See Noha Cae: 
phe th ah ae i nh 
rH a ira ie 


Lhd ie wi nae 
; i Ha Uo 2) 


0}; < 
nat ne Wishes they np PVH DH epi ie 


prised 90 wat Pu Wea anne 
cate ah hi suit pea Dis ee it 
pina i on te yb 
tae "J 
phiivers 
Nake re) : 
Hae vetik 
ined PAA ishl te aus 
Pe SAY, ets 
yes Te aie 


Lhasa 
ee “i 


Ei bande BAY vi} 
aes vue 


of j ind Mtuca 


19) 
i nai 


Aes! ioe rier Hi Saar 
s eI 
Seen! fet ihe eS oe - 
ieae hte 
pe 


toe mer a 
tte ne 


en a 
peli iildany Rat 
ee aS ie rie ae - a 
ie peer a u 


bat itn ire a 


i yusianiree 1) 


ci i 
4f pi a 
sein nee 
Sah ir 


— A 


ies Hr aig $ ares sat at i. hs mars 
, \ i > Ms + oy eau ee ft mote 
r iy f yet . a h » 
ieehn st of ip i ia Wit Ua: ‘ iets 


ae ae 4 he fee 
L Alp a 
Ais sae ani ieee as) ae ; ald ed 
pat at ae ly Ns etl ine nt 
Va 19h ye 
eH iy) 
Meiens 
iain 
i rei meee “ a 
ae 
Petit 


re 
r etal ak pitas bs ip nae) 
tei 
Saud eye 
Ai 
j Phe py 
i Be ries ; s Hy penne 
wn ae yeh yy 
Hil rhe a 


ee Foxe oe hota ue 
EM SAS a ae R niniurnaa dit Qe) 
4 ih rh phi is Lied = eeltice Hu it ae 4a Hi se si sues 
RLM A nine ee Ree TA 1k sha ttet 
vi) ‘ t) ay ea galt 
YH ae en Nate 
Takia sins 


Ay cae abs 
ence ics 
a cies 

rian 


a 


a " Pee i 


he 


iT 
fait a Ww iti 


iat hal y Hi 


mre UTNE ay 


ean 
cate 4 


Hiaaentc 


Iti etaaen 


+o! 


i 
SNahehen sich 


a abe 


pis AL +’ Ge ae) 
A 


, hot) Ay \ 
mare hsae bab any 


De mn * oy . Bee 
itn Basten : Ra aasiet : ae 3 
ig TH eben Pe one sree ; 

4 if nie ; it 


a ia 

5 eh a Be rer righ: thst 
Peas Meh fen Pa eae 

eat my oe 

‘sins ; 

sehen where eal 

jyeteie dg 6 ws Fey) ait aah) 

ate an hake 4a in eit aih 9 bata 

yeep eta KOR 


hy A 
ee 1341 yar 


Hd 
fit bhi as} ei ane 


thi 


is 
Mahea ead Avant ey 
ya tivhaledaNs pre 


at CO at i 


to 
Hace is y Re ' 
be Oe, Hi 


; eft 
4 ae } ey 

Wi Riese 35 Nt 
eae 


y 54] 
Bey Bargin am 
anh sed Bite 


Cun ets onn 
re Sing 


tH SHB Phos, et 
Su geo bt) itis Fe pair ttiteet 

Hs shy hey a Fh Hiigad Fy epi 4 
hel aa sale vb | Rie rine 

Aydssauiet afl dais that {ish 
{S408 iy Moder iy 
pal besar Yoatiy 4yF x 
hae He is 

Layee aap ag, 
es Beart i 
Ni 


J ys 
R Ly Tad eat 
BerTat) neti 4 
Hide oe 


i thi 
1A Raa py 


vet CARAT 7 + 
it tbe tHE al 


Pa Pate 4 ea i 
i: imi) PLotuee mew 
VPA Ve 4 ARNE y rye xls Saitiialticonlt theta My ort 
PD VbS Mel oieeh RL fd toh oi ta DD te abd whi ty My Oye 
a tphevansnd ithe Able Oradea wi aiete joite onde 

*i) ta) 


bbe yh aN eT eS Fh Hata ly Paget 
Het sie rest ied ish EAA i 
oan a iat 
ms f Hh aehn 


BGiaed » 
sist ieee 


Say 
Prete anach 


U3 
Oni stal 
ai) (he he 


pabert te RA 


i 
¥: 
— ini > one 
ae 


; Ae ! ut ne 
ha Aen sini cass 
miners Sat 


Asie) i 
p 35 » A 
lta a iis Pa 


eb 


pavers 


{sf yene Hat 

ml eR ot j 4 ty Hains hess 
ally! v i 
cde Lavage en 


plat) Wn «4 


iia Ki SS 
ania i en 
Hits) Teen ienitne His 
: n ee tho 


uh 


pd 
a ie 


i i 
soa edehe 
a ; i 


qeetiheey 

Bll bik 
a Pie t 
see wa 


ie 


sit i i ae 


rene 


i a Bi al 


ashe sth ess 


ci ate ts 
fans it fatwa 
ta hana nape 
Rt) Anat = fas 
Tate Mn ak 
a i 


Sh cate 
vote 


nian 


ately 
ppt led 


rt Cn 


starts 


a vy i ih sous 
f f era eh eres as 
mi LOW YC ht Ao Dy het 14:8 9h Nv —S : oe 
0) Ve iN : * try: 4 rsHaesiedt ae] fy 
” Na ethene Qe et tes bs i 
WA “by Ald beg ewaudsd ean ws Peta ettay ity Lah Sr bes ki kj ‘ Hain Cah 
EAA fre soah abiebieetie st Pie 
Aw lve) 
LM va by lester 
Met eWay 


a bates 14 
At Seek, ihe, 


Bi ei ts eS Geese 


| Faber, George Stanley, 1773 
Loos 
A practical treatise on the 


A 
PRACTICAL TREATISE 
ON THE 


ORDINARY OPERATIONS 


OF 


THE HOLY SPIRIT. 


BY THE REV. G. 8. FABER, B. D. 


RECTOR OF LONG-NEWTON, IN THE COUNTY AND DIOCESE 
OF DURHAM, 


a a mS errno 


Tvevpot Cwomores. 2 Cor. ili, 6. 


: — 


¢ 

Ot ougnines Te MEV MaT Ine MEUTTELY OV OUVEVTaly OvdE 
¢ . 

0s Wveumarinos Te cuexiue, Ignat. Epist. ad Ephes, 


NEW-VORE: 


PUBLISHED BY EASTBURN, KIRK AND CO. 
AT THE LITERARY ROOMS, 


- CORNER OF WALL AND NASSAU-STREETS. 


1814. 


a ee eee 


SPIE AE Oe a 


PRAY & BOWEN, PRINTERS, 
Brooklyn, Long-Island. 


¥ 


TO 
THE INHABITANTS 
OF THE THREE PARISHES OF 
STOCKTON-UPON-TEES, REDMARSHALL, 
AND LONG-NEWTON}3 
Of WHICH, IN THE COURSE OF THE LAST SEVEN YEARS, BY 
THE UNREMITTING KINDNESS OF ONE REVERED PATRON, 
THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN SUCCESSIVELY VICAR OR 
RECTOR; THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED BY THEIR 


SINCERE FRIEND AND WELL-WISHER, 


G. S. FABER. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


——=— ¢ Ss 


THE Reader will perceive by the date an- 
gexed to the Preface, that this work has been 
written several years. In fact, the author was 
in no haste to publish on a subject which, how- 
ever important, requires some degree of pru- 
dence in the discussion. It has been his wish to 
exhibit what he believes, to the best of his judg- 
ment, to be the doctrines and practice taught 
by that pure and apostolical Church, of which 
he feels it his privilege to be a minister. In re- 
vising what he has written, though after a con- 
siderable period of time, he did not find that 
any alterations were necessary beyond mere 
verbal corrections. 


Long-Newton Rectory, 
Jan. 16, 1843. 


. Je 
oe 


‘6% 


PREFACE. 


Every person, who is in the least de- 
gree acquainted with the corruption of 
the. human heart, will readily acknow- 
ledge, that his own unassisted abili- 
ties are totally unequal to the ,task of 

faithfully serving God. Repeated viola- 
tions of the most solemn resolutions of 
amendment have shown him bis weak- 
ness; and his numerous lapses have wo- 
fully convinced him, that he stands in 
need of some divine conductor to lead 


x 


him in safety through the perilous jour- 
ney of life. Such a guide is promised in 


Scripture to every sincere Christian. 


We are not to suppose, that the ordi- , 
nary operations of the Holy Spirit were _ 
confined to the apostolic age. Human 
nature is much alike, at all periods, and 
in all countries. Though Christianity is 
now established, and though miraculous 
interference is no longer necessary to the 
well-being of the Chureh; yet the pre- 
sent race of men will never be essentially 
better than their heathen predecessors, so 
long as they rest satisfied with having | 
only outwardly embraced the religion of 
the Messiah. A mere hypocritical and 
external profession ‘of faith cannot be 
pleasing to that God, who regards motives 
no less than actions. A radical change 


xl 


must take place in the heart, as well as 
an outward reformation in the manners; 
and this change can only be. effected by 
the agency of some superior power. ‘The 
heart is as much averse now to the genu- 
ine practice of piety, as it was in the days 
of the Apostles ; and, though we have no 
longer to combat the horrors of persecu- 
tion, we have still to struggle with the 
‘unwillingness and corruption of the soul. 
If the whole of religion consisted in the 
bare belief of certain tenets and in the 
due observance. of certain ceremonies, we 
should find very little difficulty in becom- 
ing thoroughly religious charactérs: But? 
when. we. are called upon to begin the 
work of self-reformation; when we are 
required, to love God with all our heart, 
with all our soul, and with all ‘our 


strength ;. when wevare enjoined to pre- 


Xi 
fer, upon all occasions, his will to our 
own, and to sacrifice our bosom sins, our 
darling vices, upon the aitar of Christiani- 
ty; then commences the struggle: the 
inbred venom of our nature immediately 
shows iiself; our very spirit rises both 
against the law and the lawgiver; and 
we discover the utter impossibility of 
working any change in our affections 
merely by our own efforts. No human 
arguments can persuade a man to love 
what he hates, and to delight in what he 
detests. Submission they may perhaps 
teach him; but it will be the sullen sub- 
mission of a slave, not the cheerful ac- 
quiescence of a son. To produce this 
change is the peculiar office of the Holy - 
Spirit; and, since none but he can pro- 
duce it, his ordinary influence is absolute- 


ly and universally necessary at present, 


xill 
and will be equally so even to the very 
end of the world. 


In the following pages, I have en- 
deayoured to state what appears to me 
the, plain doctrine of Scripture and the 
Church of England. Though we arere- 
peatedly assured by the word of God, 
that of ourselves we can do no good 
_thing; yet we are never represented as 
mere machines, subjected to an_ over- 
whelming and irresistible influence. ‘The 
aid of the Holy Spirit is freely offered 
unto ali; nor does that blessed Person 
cease to sirive even wilh the most profli- 
gate, till they have obstinaiely rejected 
the counsel of God against themselves. 
The still small voice of conscience, which 
is in effect the veice of God, long con- 


tinues to admonish them: and the ex- 
B 


X1V 
ireme difficulty, which they find in silenc- 
ing it, sufficiently shows how unwilling 
the Almighty is that any should perish. 
All, that will, may be saved; for our 
Lord hath expressly declared, that, 2ho- 
soever cometh unto him, he will in no 
wise cast him out. Let none therefore 
despair on the ground of their being reject- 
ed by a tremendous and irreversible decree 
of exclusion: for surely, if such a decree 
existed, God’s repeated expostulations 
with sinners for slighting his gracious of- 
fers, when at the same time they lay un- 
der a fatal necessity of slighting them, 
would be a solemn mockery, unworthy of 


a being of infinite mercy and holiness. 


In fact, the general experience of man- 
kind perfectly agrees with scripture. 


There never yet was a good man who did 


X¥ 


not find that he both required and receiv- 
ed divine assistance to enable him to 
overcome his corruptions; and. there 
never yet was a bad man, who did not 
perceive somewhat within him forcibly 
restraining him from the commission of 
sin, and warmly urging him to the prac- 
tice of holiness. Half of the follies and 
vanities of the world are mere contrivan- 
ces to silence this troublesome monitor. 
Men love darkness rather than light, 
simply because their deeds are evil. 


May 21, 1800. 


pews - 
' ail 
aie ahh 


CONTENTS." 


CHAP. I. 


"Tue necessity of the ordinary operations of the 
Holy Spirit shown from a view of the state of 
man by nature: his understanding, his will, 
and his affections, being all depraved in con- 


sequence of originalsin.....-+++-. 4 
oD > Bie: 


CHAP. If. 


‘The illumination of the understanding through 
_the influenee of the Holy Spirit, the first work 


of grace in the human soul .... +e + eu. B7 
B2 


xviii CONTENTS. 


CHAP. III. 


A deseription of two different classes of men, 
whose understandings are enlightened, while 


their hearts remain unaffected ....... a ae 
+e 
CHAP. IV. 
The influence of the Holy spirit upon the will 97 
— 


CHAP. V. 


The influence of the Holy Spirit upon the affee- 
TORE) cobs (0 ta thas «Ry ec ele co 427 


CHAP. VI. 


The Holy Spirit, a comforter, and an interces- 
SOT Mite fhe tc Mee Par tif ep cs Sra ye 457 


CONTENTS. xix 


CHAP. VII. . 


The fruits of the Spirit contrasted with the works 
OP CHE MCR oon ae a eee en wy 0 4.87 


CHAP. VIII. 


The constant influence of the Holy Spirit necessa- 
ry to conduct us in safety to the end of our pil- 


PPUMAZE 6.0. 96 eee seis ow where ole 229 


A 
PRACTICAL TREATISE 
THE Seervire aa’ OPERATIONS 


OF THE 


HOLY SPIRIT. 


CHAP. I. 


The necessity of the ordinary operations of the 
Spirit shown from a view of the state of man 
by nature ; his understanding, his will; and 
his affections, being all depraved in conse- 


quence of original sin. 


In the last solemn discourse, which our bless- 
ed Lord addressed to his disciples immediately 
before his bitter sufferings upon the cross, he 
promised them another Comforter, who should 
abide with them for ever. Though he himself 
was about to be shortly separated from them 


and to sit down at the right hand of his Father, 


2 


yet his place should be abundantly supplied by 
the effusion of the Spirit of truth. The world 
indeed cannot receive this divine Person, be- 
-eause it seeth him not, rieither knoweth him 3 
but it is the peculiar characteristic of the true 
disciples of Christ, that they do know him, for 
he dwelleth with them,.and shall be in them.* 
Accordingly, in due season, and pursuant to 
the declaration of Christ, the Holy Ghost de- 
scended upon the Apostles, and conferred upon 
them spiritual gifis both catvuordinary and 
ordinary. By the reception of the former they 
were specially qualified to discharge the duties 
of their important office, and were awfully and 
incontrovertibly accredited to every nation as 
the peculiar delegates of heaven: by the re- 
ception of the latter they were eminently en- 
dowed with all the pure dispositions of a renew- 
ed ‘heart, and were enabled to testify the re- 
ality of their internal. change by an exact holi- 


ness of life and conversation. A 


* John xiy, 16. 


3 


Extraordinary eifts they reecived for ,the 
benefit of the church: ordinary gifts they re- 
ceived for their own personal benefit. Eatra- 
ordinary gifts were conferred upon a few only : 
of those ordinary gifts, without which no real 
sanctification can be attained, without which a 
man must labour under a physical ineapacity 
of enjoying the kingdom of heaven, it is the pri- 
vilege of every genuine Christian to be a par- 
taker. They are ordinary, not as inferior in 
point of importance to the possessor (for in this 
respect they are superior ;) but as gifts ordina- 
rily bestowed upon all the faithful, and not 


limited after an extraordinary manner toa few. 


. Since those miraculous powers, which were 
eonferred upon the founders of the Christian 
chureh, were designed only fer a special and 
determinate purpose ; as that purpose was gra-. 
dually accomplished, the powers were gradu- 
ally withdrawn, until at length they entirely 


‘eeased. The religion of the Messiah, after the 


a 
Japse of three centuries, obtained a firm estab- 
lishment ; princes became its nursing fathers ; 
and they who refused to yield to the Voice of 
reason and evidence, had_ no longer conviction 
forced upon them by a supernatural interfer- 
ence of heayen. Signs and wonders ceased 
to attend the preaching of the Gospel ; yet the 
premise, that the Holy Spirit should abide for 
ever with the disciples of Christ, remained un- 
broken, and we trust will remain unbroken to 
the very end of time. Neither the sight of 
miracles, nor the ability of performing them, 
has simply and per se any effect upon the hu- 
manheart. They may perhaps dreadfully eon- 
vince the understanding ; but God alone can 
convert the soul. The state of man by nature 
is precisely the Same now, as it was in the days 
of the Apostles : consequently, if it were then 
necessary that the Holy Spirit should reprove 
the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judg- 
ment ; it is no less necessary in the present age. 
‘Phe world indeed is called Christian: but 


5 


practical infidelity still flourishes in all its bane- 
ful luxurianey. It matters not what a man is 
denominated, so long as his heart is alienated 
from God; and a bare assent of his under- 
standing will be of little avail, if his life prove 
him to be the slave of Satan. On this account 
ihe ordinary operations of the Spirit are con- 
éinued though the extraordinary ones haye long: 
seen unknown in the chureh of Christ. 
J : : 

a state of nature is constantly opposed in | 
Seripture to a state of grace. The first is the 
wretched inheritance bequeathed - us by our 
commen progenitor Adam: the second is the 
free and unmerited gift of God the F ather, pur- 
‘chased for us by God the Son, and conveyed to 
us by God the Holy Ghost. They hole then of 
the work, carried on in the soul of man by the 
third person of the blessed "Pri inity, may be 
briefly defined ; 3 a gradual res loration of that 
image of God, in the likeness of which Adam 


was ereated, and t he lineaments of shiek Were 
C 


6 


totally obliterated by sin.* 'The work is begun, 
continued, and perfected, by the Holy Spirit. 
He is equally the author and the finisher of 
our faith: and without him we ean dono good 


thing. From the first faint motions of 


ee LS SSS 


* «To discover wherein such image and likeness con- 
sisted, what better method can we take, than to inquire 
wherein consist that divine image and likeness, which, as 
the Scriptures of the New Testament inform us, were re- 
stored in human nature, through the redemption and grace 
of Christ, who was manifested for that purpose. The im- 
age restored was the image lost ; and the image lost was 
that, in which Adam was created. The expressions, em- 
ployed by the penmen of the New Testament, plainly point 
out to us this method of proceeding—Renewed in know- 
ledge after the image of him that created him—Put on the 
new man, which after Godis created in righteousness and 
true holiness. The divine image then is to be found in the 
understanding, and the will; in the understanding, which 
knows the truth, and in the will which loves it.—This di- 
vine image is restored in human nature by the word of 
Christ enlightening the understanding, and the grace of 
Christ rectifying the will.” Bp. Horne’s Sermons, vol. i. p 
20, 21, 22. | 


po 
é 


spiritual life to its final consummation in the 
realms of everlasting happiness, all the honour 
and all the glory of our growth in grace be 


ascribed unto him! 


When the Almighty ceased from’ the work 
of creation, he pronounced all that he had made 
to be very good. The new world was as yet 
free from the inroads of sin, and from the curse 


of sterility. 


De eas ar ine Nature then 
Wanton’d as in her prime, and Play’d at will 


~ Her virgin fanciés’. 5. Sian et 


‘Phe whole creation smiled upon man, and 
the golden age of the poets was realized. Bless- 
ed with perfect health both mental and cor- 
poreal, our heaven-born progenitor was equally 
unconscious of the stings of guilt and the pangs 
of disease. His understanding was unclouded 


with the mists of vice, ignorance, and error; 


3 


his will, though absolutely free, was yet en: 
tirely devoted to the service of God; and his 
affections, warm, vigorous, and undivided, = 
ardently bent upen the great fountain of his 
existence. ‘Though vested in an earthly body, 
his soul was as the soul of an angel, pure, just, 
and upright. He was uncontaminated with the 
smallest sin, and free from even the slightest 
taint of pollution. His passions, perfectly under 
the guidance of his reason, yielded a ready 
and cheerful obedience to the dictates of his 
conscience ; an obedience, not constrained and 
irksome, but full, unreserved, and attended 
with sensations of unmixed delight. Sueh was 
man when he came forth from the hand of his 
Creator, the image of God stamped upom his 


soul and influencing all his actions. 


This blissful state of innocence was soon 
forfeited by our first parents. In an evil hour 
they yielded to the suggestions of the tempter, 


and violated the express command of God. 


g 


Pride, that most deeply rooted bane of our 
nature, was now, for the first time, infused 
into the heart of the woman. She vainly desired 
a greater share of wisdom, than God had beer 
pleased to grant unto her; and, in order to ob- 
tain that wisdem, serupled not to disobey her 
Maker. The man followed her example, and 
joined her ina mad rebellion against heaven. 
Sin entered into the world, and. death closely 
followed its footsteps. ‘he image of God was | 
obliterated, and the image of Satan was erected 


in its stead. 


_ Mysterious as the doctrine of original. de- 
pravily may be, no man, unless he be totally 
unacquainted with the workings of his own 
heart, can possibly doubt its actual existence. 
Some persons indeed are so far blinded by the 
deceitfulness of sin as to deny the doctrine in 
question; but « I verily believe,” to noah 
words of the excelleut Beveridge, «that the 


Oo 8 


x 40 et at 


want of such a due sense of themselves argues 
as much original corruption, as murder and 
whoredom do actual pollution : and I shall ever 
suspect those to be the most under the power of 
ihat corruption, that labour most by arguments 
to divest it of its power.?* — 
=i¥ 
‘L. Exainine first the understanding, and you 
will find it, atleast so far as relates to spiritual 


things, dark and eonfused. 


The Apostle, describing the state of the 
world previous to the diffusion of Christian 
knowledge, asserts, that men had become vain 
im their imaginations, and that their foolish 
heart was darkened; that professing themselves 
to be wise, they became fools; and, though 
proud of their attainments in a subtle philosophy, 
that in the sight of God they were without ‘ite 


derstanding.+ Ina similar manner he elsewhere 


* Private Thoughts, Art. iv. + Rom. i. 21, 22. 31. 


44 st 
declares, that the natural man receiveth not the 
things of the. Spirit of God 3 for they are 
foolishness unio him: neither can he know 
them, because they are spiritually discerned.* 
His knowledge of divine matters, in conse- 
quence of his being debased by the fall, is as 
much inferior to true heayenly wisdom, as the 
instinct of a brute is to the reason of a human 
being. On this account, as St. Paul scruples 
not strongly to express himself, even the wis- 
dom of the Almighty himself, is foolishness to 
man ma state ofnature. Having no faculties 
capable in themselves of embracing spiritual 
truths, he is as much unqualified to decide upon 
them, as a man born blind is to diseriminate 
between the various tints of the rainbow ; for, 
as the one is defective in spiritual, so is the 
other in corporal, discernment. No treatise 
on light and colours, however minute and aceu- 


_rate, ean give a distinct idea of their nature to 


¥ 7 Cor? in TA. 


iz 


a man born blind; nor can any description of 
spiritual things, however just, communicate- 
a clear conception of them to him whose under- 
standing is darkened. | The reason, which the 
Apostle gives, is simply because they must be 


Spiritually discerned ; consequently, tilithat Spi- 


ritual discernment be communicated, heavenly 


wisdom must and will appear foolishness in his 


eyes. * Let us then,” as we are well exhorted : 


by the Church in one of her homilies ; «6 Let us 
meekly call upon the bountiful Spirit, the Holy 
Ghost, to inspire us with his presence, that we 
may be able to hearthe goodness of God to our 


salvation. For without his lively inspiration 


we cannot so much as speak the name of the | 


Mediator. No man can say, that Jesus is the 
Lord, but by the foly Ghost. Much less 
should we be able to understand these great mys- 
teries, that be Asam to us by Christ. For 
we have received, saith St. Paul, not the spirit of 
the world, but ihe Spirit which is of God, for this 


purpose, that we may know the things which 


Rtn a cS 


Si ce 


13, 


ave freely given to us of God. In the pewer of 
the Holy Ghost resteth all ability to know God 
and to please him. It is he, that purificth the 
mind by his seeret working. He enlighteneth 
the heart to conceive worthy sine of Al- 
mighty: God.?* — 

A work of Cicero, written expressly upon 
the nature of the gods, has been providentially 
handed down to us; and it affords the most 
striking comment possible on the seriptural 
doctrine of the ignorance of man. This great 
- philosopher has shown at large, to the entire 
satisfaction of every Christian reader, how 
totally blind the three mest celebrated seets 
of antiquity were in all these points which are 
placed beyond the cognizance of sense. With 
a mind alive to all the beauties of composition. 
and versed in all the researches of philosophy ; 
with abilities rarely equalled, perhaps never 


~ 


a ee AE ESS EER ES 


ead ae 
4 


* Homil. for Rogat. W feck. Part Ube 


1h 


excelled ; the Roman orator ventures to sear 
beyond the bounds of the material creation, 
and to seratinize the nature of the Omnipotent. 
Flow are the mighty fallen! The grossest ig- 
norance, and the strangest errors, are the prin- 
cipal characteristics of his celebrated treatise. 
Once, indeed, a consciousness of human \ 
inability: extorts from him a confession, that 
no man ever became great without some divine’ 
inspiration :* but, scarcely has this memorable 
sentiment flowed from his pen, ere the doctrine 
of an universal providence is expressly denied 


by the advocate of one of the contending sects.+ 


Such was the wisdom of the philosophers; 
and thus was their understanding darkened, 
Soon areeenaeeenneraeenee 

* Nemo igitur vir magnus sine.aliquo adflatu divino um: 
quam fuit.” Cicer. de Nat. Deor. 1. ii. c. 66, 

{‘‘ Magna Di curant, parva negligunt.” Ibid. See 
also Tusc. Ques. |. iil. in init.—Plat. Apol. Socrat. sect. 18. j 


—Plat. Phed. sect. 35.—Max. Tyr. Dissert, 22.—Stob, Hx- 
cerpt. de mor. Tit. 1. 


45 


being alienated from the life of God through the 
ignorance that was in them, because of the 


blindness of their heart.* 


II. Let the will next be brought to the test, 
and we shall find it no less deficient than the 


understanding. 


Our inclinations, resolutely bent upon earth- 
ly and sensual enjoyments, revolt from every 
thing divine and spiritual ; insomuch that even 
a heathen moralist could fee] and acknowledge 


_their deprayation: . 
O prone in terras anime, et coelestium inanes! 


Hence, though we are commanded to work out 
our own salvation with fear and trembling : 
yet we are informed at the same time, that it 
is God that worketh in us both to will and to 


do of his good pleasure. God must first give 


Pd 


* Ephes. iv. 18. ¢ Philip. i. 13, 


46 


us the will, and afterwards the power ; other- 


wise we shall for ever remain in a state of spi- 
vitual insufficiency. Our Lord himself, in per- 
fect harmony with his inspired Apostle, de- 
elares expressly ; Vo man cam come to me, ex- 
eept the Father, which hath sent me, draw 
him.* He speaks of us also as being naturally 
in a state of bondage, instead of enjoying the 
high prerogative of freedom: ye shall know 
the truth, and the truth shall make you free.t 
This plain declaration gave high offence to the 
Jews; but Christ, so far from retracting its 
asserted, that all (hose, who commit sin (and 
what man is impeecable ?) are the servants of 
sin. ‘To that blessed person alone we must 
lock for our emancipation: If the son shall 


make you free, ye shall be free indeed.+ 


Pres 


* John vi. 44. \ John viii. 32. 


+ John viii. 36, 


ee en ee ee ee CLC 


17 


Upon these’ solid scriptural grounds, the 
Church of England rightly decides, that «the 
condition of man after the fall of Adam is such, 
that he cannot taru and prepare himself, by his 
own natural strength and good works, to faith and 
calling upon God: wherefore we have no pow- 
er to do good works pleasant and acceptable 
to God, without the grace of God by Christ 
preventing us, that we may have a good will 
and working with us when we have that good 
will."* Agreeably to such principles one of 


the prayers ‘in her Liturgy is constructed 


“Though we be tied and bound with the chain 
of our sins, yet let the pitifulness of thy great 
merey loose us.”? And the very same doctrine 
is taught in the second part of her Homily on 
the misery of man. << Thus we have heard 
how evil we be of ourselves : 3 how of ourselves 


and by ourselves we have no goodness, help, or 


* Art. 10. 


“48 


salvation, but eontrariwise sin, damnation, and 
death ‘everlasting: which if we duly weigh 
and consider, we shall the better understand 
the great mercy of God, and how oar salvation 
cometh only by Christ : for in ourselves, as of 


ourselves, we find nothing whereby we may 


be delivered from this miserable captivity, into— 


the which we are ‘east through the envy of the 
devil, by breaking of God’s commandment in 
our first parent Adam. Weareall become un- 
clean, but we allare not able to cleanse ourselves, 
nor make one another of us clean. | We are 
by nature the children of God’s wrath, but are 
not able to make ourselves the children and in- 
heritors of God’s glory. - We are sheep that 


run astrny, but we cannot of our own power 


eome again to the sheep-fold ; so great is our — 


imperfection and weakness.’"* : : 
’ 


os 


* The main hinge of the ancient controversies between | 


Augustine and Pelagius, and between Luther and the Pa- 


19 


IIL. We have hitherto considered the depra- 
yation of the understanding, aud the distortion 
of the will, in consequence of the fall of Adam ; 
let us next take a view of the heart and the af- 


fections. 


4, 'The passions of love and hatred do not 
appear to have been so much destroyed, as per- 
verted, at the time of the fall. When man 
came pure and perfect from the hands of his 
Maker, the passions were directed to their pro- 
per objects. God, and holiness, were loved ; 
sin, and impurity, were hated. But, after our 


first parents had yielded to the temptations of 
Sia tall senda dhe staid alba Ei ape a 


pists, turned upon the doctrine of human sufficiency and 
the meritorious dignity of good works. An epistle of the 
African council, at which Aurelius of Carthage presided, 
to Innocent Bishop of Rome, briefly states the heads of 
this contested subject. See August. Epist. 90 and 46.— 
Luther. Enarrat. Fol. 6.c.—Melanct. Loe. Theol. p. 89. 


20 


Satan, an almost total inversion of the former. 


affections of the heart took place. : Man then 
began to hate what he ought to love, and to love 
what he ought to hate. The pure and holy law 
of God, whieh thwarts his vicious inclinations, 
became the object of his fiercest aversion ; 
while, on the contrary, wickedness became his 


pleasure and delight.* The second of these 


* Grace doth not pluck up by the roots and wholly 


destroy the natural passions of the mind, because they are 


distempered by sin ; that were an extreme remedy to cure 


by killing, and heal by cutting off: no, but it corrects the 
distemper in them: it dries not up this main stream of 
love, but purifies i+ from the mud it is full of'in its wrong 


course, or calls it to its right channel by which it may run 


into happiness, and empty itself into the ocean of goodness. - 


The Holy Spirit turns the love of the soul towards God in 


Christ, for in that way only can it apprehend his love : so 


then, Jesus Christ is the first object of this divine love : 


he is medium unionis, through whom God conveys the sense 
of his love to the soul, and receives back its love to him.” 


Archb. Leighton’s Comment. on 1 Peter i, 8, 9. 


ee 


a ees 


21 


propensities is ever active ; the first not unfre- 
quently appears for a season to lie dormant, 
This lurking enmity towards God slumbered 
in the hearts of the Jews for some ages previ- 
ous to the advent of the Messiah; but, when 
the spirituality of his preaching roused their 
consciences and showed them their inward 
abominations, their enmity awoke, strong as 


death and cruel as the grave. 


This doctrine, however, is not unfrequently 
denied even on the ground of personal experi- 
ence; and those, who urge it, are thought to 
paint human nature in much blacker colours 
than she really deserves. It may perbaps be 
allowed, that we have frailties, venial frailties ; 
but our nature is asserted to be in the main 


ever favourable to virtue, and averse to vice. 


The degree of truth, whieh such notions pos- 


sess, is best ascertained by simple matter of 


fact. In the person of our blessed Saviour 


D2 


22 


virtue itself was embodied. Perfectly just, 
and absolutely free from even the slightest sus- 
picion of criminality, Christ was the bright ex- 
emplar of the doctrines which he preached. 
If the love of virtue then be inherent in the hu- 
man mind, the Lord of life, condescending to 
visit the haunts of men, must surely have been 
the object of their warmest devotion and their 
most affectionate adoration. Yet was he hated, 
reviled, and persecuted even to death, notwith- 
standing our supposed natural propensity to 
virtue. Ina similar manner his disciples, the 
labour of whose life consisted in imitating their 
divine master, were hated of all nations, as_ 
their Lord had expressly foretold,* for his 
“name's sake. In other words, the more they 
approximated to perfect virtue, the greater 
degree of odium they incurred. An awful in- 
stance of the bitter enmity of the natural man 


against God and all his faithful servants is af- 


* Matt xxiy. 9. 


23 


forded us in the account of the death of Sé. 
Stephen. The judges, who presided in the 
mock trial of the protomartyr, even gnushed on 


him with their teeth ;* the violent workings of 


 yage in their hearts causing them to resemble 


wild beasts rather than men; nor could their 
animosity be quenched exeept in the blood of 


their devoted victim. 


- Should it be said, that these are particular 
instances selected only from the history of a 
single nation, let us cast our eyes around and 
contemplate the labours of the great Apostle of 
the Gentiles. ‘Whence was it that bonds and 
afflictions awaited him in every city? Whence, 
but because the holiness of his life, and the ve- 
hemence of his eloquence, held up a mirror be- 
fore the eyes of men, which too faithfully re- 


flected their manifold iniquities ? To approach 
rng 


* Acts vil. 54. 


24 


nearer to our own times : what was it. that eall- 
ed down the fury of Popery upen the mariyrs 
of the Protestant Church ? he same principle, 
which crucified the Lord of life and persecuted 
his Apostles, consigned to the flames a Cranmer, 
a Latimer, and a Ridley. Now, this repented 
opposition to the truth ean only be accounted for 
upon the scriptural doctrine, that the carnal 
mind is enmity with God.* He, who searcheth 
the very heart and the reins, hath declared, that 
light is come into the world, and men loved dark- 
ness rather than light, becanse their deeds are 
evil. For every one that doeth evil, hateth the: 
light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds 
should be reproved.} 


The fact is, men are apt to deceive themselves 
into a belief, that their minds are not at enmity. 


* Rom. viii. 9. T John ii, 19. 


/ 


25 


_ with God, by the common delusion of performing 


their duty only by halves. Different persons 


ave so differently constituted, that duties are 


more or less irksome to them, exactly in the 


- proportion that they more or less coincide with 


their natural dispositions. Hence, each indi- 


vidual selects the duty which best suits his in- 


-elinations, and seems almost to forget that any 


- others are in existence. The Pharisees presery- 


eda very decent exterior, and were strict ob- 


- servers of the literal part of the Law. Per- 


- feetly satisfied with their imaginary progress in 


holiness, they placidly reclined on the pillow of. 


-_self-righteousness, and felt not the hidden ma- 
lignity of their nature. What they performed 
were undoubtedly duties ; but they were duties, 
which in there situation required no great de-, 
gree of self-denial. The moment an awakened 
- conscience forced them to acknowledge that ex- 
ertions of a much higher nature were unecessary 
to gain the favour of heaven, the mask of sancti- 


fied hypocrisy was dropped, their hatred to God 


26 


blazed eut in its full fury, and a deliberate ju- 
dicial murder of the discloser of such disagree- 


able truths was the result. . 


We are sometimes apt complacently to thank. 
God, that we are not like the Pharisees ; but, 
would we candidly examine our own hearts, we 
might possibly find that they contain the very 
same evil disposition in embryo. To a man of 
an active temper, a life fullof employment is the 
highest source of gratification. Hence, if he 
have received. some religious impressions, he 
feels but little repugnance to diverting his ac- 
tivity into a different channel from what it 
flowed in before. The same disposition re- 
mains, though the object which engages his at- 
tention and rouses the yigour of his mind, be 
now no longer the same. In the discharge of 
acitve religious duties, he perceives not the.en- 
mity of a corrupt heart against God, “because 
from mere physical reasons he feels no repug- 


nance against them. But if he be called upon 


ay 
to analyse the hidden cause of his actions, and to 
give up part of his time to serious meditation 5 
if he be required daily to deny himself, and no 
longer to participate in those vanities which are 
usually peculiarly gratifying to ardent and. san- 
guine tempers : if such requisitions as these be 
made, then commences. the struggle ; and we 
too frequently behold those, who are foremost 
in every active duty, shrink with disgust from 


ihe resignation of worldly pleasure. 


On the other hand, men of indolent and 
phlegmatie dispositions would never. perceive 
their enmity towards God, were Christianity a 
mere negative system of quietism. Persons of 
this description, who begin to feel the impor+ 
tance of religion, will hear with equal compla- 
cency a warm exhortation to the duties of the 
closet, and a vehement: remonstrance against 
dissipation. They forthwith give themselves 
upto prayer and devout meditation ; they read 


the Seriptures daily ; and they steadily resolve 


28 


never more to frequent the haunts of vanity and 
folly. All this they perform without any dif- 
fieulty ; and therefore conclude, that their in- 
clinations are perfectly in unison with the will 
of God, and that they have arrived at a consi- 
derable degree of eminence in the school of 
Christianity. But what are their pretensions to 
superior piety, if they be closely scrutinized ? 
They diligently perform those duties, to which 


simply from their natural eonstitution they have 


no repugnance ; and resolutely deny themselves" 


all those fashionable follies, for which they pre- 
viously entertained the most profound indiffer- 
ence. Insuch a state of mind let a course of 
active duty be urged upon them, and they will 
be effectually convinced of their natural hatred 
to the Law of God. Men are very ready to 
obey, so far as obedience is not entirely ineon- 
sistent with their inclinations ; hence the opu- 
lent will never take offence at the clergyman 
who happens to preach a concio ad populum 
against theft, nor the populace at him whe 


29 


censures the vices of their superiors.* But, if 
he faithfully tell both parties their faults; if he 
| force his reluctant congregation to take a sur- 
: vey of their inward corruptions ; and if he de- 
clare, that no man ean enter into the kingdom 


_ of heaven unless a complete and radical change 


take place in his heart : he will find none sat- 
Aisfied with him but theses who are resolved to 
, make the service of God the main business of 
: their lives. Ina similar manner, if he assure 
such of his flock as make a great outward pro- 


fession of religion, that a vehement zeal for eer- 


a eam 


7 I have somewhere seen a story of Doctor Johnson, 


which may serve not inappositely to exemplify this re- 


mark; though € by no "means think the Doctor’s implied 
censure of his mother juste. 4] remember,” said he to one 


of his friends, “ when I was a child, that my mother, by 


way of spending a Sunday ‘evening profitably, made me 
read to her a chapter from The Whole Duty of Mun 
against stealing: the truth of the doctrine was undeniable, — 


but J felt no inclination to be a thief.” 
EK 


30 


iain particular doctrines, a staunch adherence 
to party, a never-ceasing eagerness to discuss 
theological topics, an intemperate thirst of 
hearing sermons, aud a too exclusive partiality 
for favourite preachers, are no certain marks of 
grace 5 if he solemnly warn them, that the doers, 
not the hearers of God’s word, are treading the 
path which leads to heaven ; and if he remind 
them, that the shibboleth ofa seet is by no means 
an evidence of real Christianity : it is far from 
improbable, that his plain-dealing will be very 
ill veeeived. So long as he prophesies smooth 
things, and accommodates himself to the hu- 
mour of his congregation, whatever that humour 
may be, just so long they will speak well of 
him ; but, let him put forth his hand, and touch 
their bone and their flesh, and they will curse 


him to his face.* 


* Job ui. 5. 


3t 


What has been said is amply sufficient to 
prove, that the earnal mind is enmity with God. 
“Tf any person still doubt it, let him but vig- 
orously apply himself to those allowed duties 
which are most irksome to him, and he will 
quickly find an argument in his own breast, in- 


~ finitely stronger than any that have been here 
adduced.* 


2. Closely connecied with the bitter animosi- 


ty which the heart enteriains against God (con- 


*+¢ Quid aliud in mund quam pugna adversus diabo- 
Jum quotidie geritur; quam adversus jacula ejus et tela 
conflictationibus assiduis dimicatur? Gam ayaritia nobis,- 
cum impudicitia, cum ira, cum ambitione, congressio est: 
cum carnalibus vitiis, cum illecebris secularibus, assidua 
et molesta luctatio est. Obsessa mens hominis, et undique 
diaboli infestatione vallata, vix occurrit singulis, vix resis- 
tit. Si avaritia prostrata est, exsurgit libido: si libido 
compressa est, succedit ambitio : si ambitio contemta est, 
ira exasperat, inflat superbia, vinolentia invitat, invidia 
concordiam rumpit, amicitiam zelus abscindit.” Cyprian. 
de Mortal. 


32 
nected indeed with it in the way of cause and 
effect, is its extreme depravity. Theological 
writers have not unfrequently been accused of 
exaggeration in treating of the depravity ‘in 
question: but the censeience of every one, 
whose understanding has been enlightened with 
. self-knowledge, will readily acquit them of the 
charge. * Sinee the fall, the nature of man 
has been blind and corrupt; his understanding 
darkened, and his affections polluted. Upon 
the face of the whole earth there is no man, 
Jew or Gentile, that understandeth and seeketh 
after God. "The natural man, or man remain- 
ing in that state whoveia the fall left him, is so 
far Irom being able to discover or know any 
religious truth, that he hates and flies from it 
when it is proposed to him: he receiveth not the 
things of the Spirit of God. Man is natural 
and earthly; the things of God are spiritual 
and heavenly ; and these are contrary one to 
the other: therefore, as the wisdom of. this 
world is foolishness with God, so the wisdom 


393 


of God is foolishness with the world. Ina 
word, the sense man is now possessed of, where 
God does not restrain it, is used for evil and 
not for good: his wisdom is earthly, sensual, 
devilish : it is the sagacity of a brute, animated 


by the malignity of an evil spirit.”’* 


3. In addition to its enmity against God, and 
its utter depravity, the human heart is like- 
wise in a state of insensibility and stupidity, 
The conscience as the Apostle expresses it, is 
past feeling, seared as with a hot iron.t| Hence 
reproofs and judgments may irritate, but can 
never merely by their own influence convert. 
This insensibility, though it may be increased 
by a habit of sinning, is yet itself originally in- 
herent in the conscience : at the jirst, it is not 
30 much superinduced upon it, as it springs out 
of it. 


* Jones’s Cathol. Doctrine of the Trinity, p, 14.. 


} Ephes. iv. 19. 1 Tim. iv. 2. 
Le 


- iV. Man being thus depraved in the under- 
standing, the will, and the affections, it is al- 
most superiluous to observe, that he must in 
consequence have lost all power of serving God. 
Unable to diseover his will, hateng it when it is 
diseovered to him, and so polluted by sin that 
he is utterly unable to cleanse himself, how 

ean he perform in his own strength any accept- 
able service? He may indeed, in the pride of 
his high speeulations, imagine himself to be 
rich, and to have need of nothing; but the 
word of God will inform him, that he is wretch- 
ed, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and na- 
led.* FXven those actions of the natural man, 
which bear the semblance of good; the patri- 
otism of a Regulus, and the morality of a So- 
erates; even they are but splendid sins :} for, 
as we are rightly taught by the Chureh, 

* Revel. ii. 17. 


f See Bp. Beveridge’s Exposition of the Articles. 
Art. xiii. | 


35 


« Works, done before the’ grace of Christ and 


the inspiration of his spirit, are not pleasant to 


God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in 


Jesus Christ :—yea rather, for that they are 
not done as God hath willed and commanded 
them to be done, we doubt not. but they have 
the nature of sin.”’* The reason of this is ob- 
vious : a polluted heart ean no more bring forth 
a good action, than a polluted fountain can 
emit pure water; but all our hearts are by na- 
ture impure: consequently all our actions be- 
fore the reception of divine grace must be im- 
pure also, and as such cannot be pleasing unto 
God. 


In this miserable condition is every man born. 
Fallen from his high estate, and sunk in the 
deep sleep of presumptuous wickedness, he re- 


fuses te listen to the coice of any human charm- 


* Art. xiii. See also Bp. Hopkins’s Works, p. 525. and 
Bp. Beveridge’s Private Thoughts, Art. vit. 


: 


36 


er, charm he ever so wisely. God alone is able 
to create aclean heart, and to renew a right 
spirit within him; for creation is an attribute 
belonging solely to the Deity. Man must be 
brought back to the image of his Maker, that 
image which was lost by the fall of Adam; or 
he must for ever remain excluded from the 


kingdom of heayen. 


...+-.. From the mercy-seat above 
Preyenient grace descending must remove 
The stony from his heart, and make new flesh 


Regenerate grow instead ...... he 


CHAPTER IL. 


| The illumination of the understanding through 
the influence of the Holy Spirit, the jirst 


work of grace in the human soul. 


WueEn the Almighty created man, he fore- 
saw all the fatal. consequences which would 
‘result from his violation of the divine com- 
‘mandment. Though justice required the pun- 
ishment of the transgressors, yet mercy pro- 
provided a wonderful remedy, by virtue of 
which Adam and all his posterity might have 
the means of escaping eternal perdition. The 
fulness of time being come, the only begotten 
of the Father; «« God of God, Light of Light, 


| 
very God of very God;” the Lamb virtually 
and typically slain from the foundation of the 
world; this glorious personage took our nature 
upon him, and was made like unto us in all 
things, sin only excepted. After spending alife 
of unwearied benevolence and heavenly purity, 
honouring the Law more highly by his perfect 
observance ofit than it was ever dishonoured by 
the transgressions of the whole race of man, 
our Lord closed his ministerial labours by offer- 
ing himself up, a voluntary self-devoted saecri- 
fice, for the sins of the world. The benefits 
of his death and passion extended as widely as 
the baneful effects of the fall had done ;* and 
we are repeatedly told by the inspired riiet, 
that he suffered for the sins of all men.} None 
are excluded from being partakers of these 
blessings. Every contrite sinner, every soul 


that wishes for salvation, is freely invited to 


* 1 Corin. xy. 22. 


{ Heb. i. 9. Coloss. i. 20, 1 Tim. ii. 4. 6, 


39 


approach to the throne of mercy, assured of a 
welcome reception through the all-suilicient 
merits of the Redemer. Ho, every one that 
thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that 
hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, 
come, buy milk and wine without money and 
without price /* 


But, although the redemption of mankind be 
thus unlimited and universal, and although 
God willeth not the death of any sinner, but 
rather that all should turn unto him and 
repent; yet, by reason of the obstinate folly 
of the wicked, the gracious purposes of the 
Almighty fail to produce universal salvation. 
All day long, saith the Lord, have I stretched 
forth my hands unto a disobedient and gain- 
saying people. Enter ye in, saith our Saviour, 
at the strait gate; for wide is the sate and 


broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, 


* Isaiah ly. 1. + Rom, x. 21. 


40 


bs 
and many there be which go in thereat :. because 
straii is the gate and narrow is the way which 
leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.* 
Henee itis evident, that many unhappy per- 
sons, whom the god of this world hath blinded, 
will either expressly reject, or carelessly ne- 
glect to avail themselves of, the benefits of 
Christ’s death and passion. All those who are ) 
infatuated with the pride of infidelity, and 
matly defy the living God, exclude themselyes 
with a high hand from the pale of the church ; 
and all those, whe, like the devils, believe and 
tremble ; who acknewledge the divine author- 
ity of the Gospel, but are strangers to its in- 
fluence; who liye, to use the emphatie words — 
of Scripture, without God in the world, dead 
in tresspasses and sins ; all these, if there be 
any truth in the plain declarations of our Lord 
and his Apostles, haye no lot nor portion in 
the Son of God. 


cs EPR NNTT ree  e 


* Matt. wii. 13. 


ad 

How happens it then, that some receive the 
word with joy, and bring forth fruit meet for 
repentance ; while others either suddenly re- 
jeet it, or remain alike uninfluenced by its 
threats and its promises? Noman, saith our 
blessed Lord, can come unto me, eacept the 
Father, which hath sent me, draw him.* But 
in what manner doth the Father draw man- 
Kind unto himself, in order that they may not 
perish, but receive everlasting life? The Apos- 
Ue informs us, that no man can say that Jesus 
is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.+ 


It is therefore the peculiar office of the third 
person of the Trinity to bring us unto Christ, 
and to induce us to accept the pardon which is 
freely offered unto all. Here we see, that none 
ean come unto Christ without being drawn by 


the gracious influence of the Spirit. 


<-cephiaasiie pars: - 


* John vi. 44. t 1 Corin, xii. 3. 
r ; 


42 


But many resist that influence to their own 
destruction; in a manner compelling God to 
declare, that his Spirit shall not always strive 
with man ;* and forcing the merciful Saviour 
himself to complain, ye will nol come unto me 
that ye may have life; Here we learn the 
true reason, why so many perish in their sins: 
they will not accept the salvation, which is of- 
fered to them in common with all mankind. 
God the Spirit draweth them indeed : but they 


obstinately refuse to follow him.t 


‘Gen. ¥i./3- 7 John v. 40. 


+ 1 have endeavoured to state this difficult point in that 
manner, which to myse/f, at least, appears the most agree- 
able to Scripture. With the Calvinistic view of the sub- 
ject 1am by no means satisfied: but the Pelagian view 
ef it is yet more exceptionable. 

It is certain, that the free-will (that. is, of course the 
moral, not the natural, free-will) which Adam possessed 
in his state of purity, was lost, at the fall, when he and 
all his posterity became inclined to evil; hence, as we 


. . ; 
are instructed by the Church, “ the condition of man after 


43 


A considerable degree of prudence and eau- 


tion is necessary in treating of the operations 


the fall of Adam-is such, that he cannot turn and prepare 
himself by his own natural strength and good works to 
faith and calling upon God:” nevertheless it is no-where 
asserted in Scripture, that freedom of will is not equally 
restored unto all men by the preaching of the gospel. 
Every expostulation of God with the wicked necessarily 
supposes, that he freely gives them an opportunity of re- 
pentance; and that their eternal condemnation is the result, 
not of an arbitrary decree, but of their deliberately choosing 
evil rather than good, and their obstinately refusing the 
assistance of the Holy Ghost, which is equally offered 
unto ail men. , ‘ 

Iam aware, that in reply a Calvimist will argue; “ If 
allhave free-will equally given to them by the Spirit, if 
allare equally drawn by the Father, al/ must equally 
come unto Christ.” 

“This, however, by no means follows, as we may suffi- 
ciently learn from the fall of our first parent. Adam pos- 
sessed free-will by nature; and, without having the 
slightest bias to evil, was strongly drawn or inclined by 
the Spirit of God to that which is good: yet Adam fell. 
Why then may not those, to whom the free-will lost by 


the transgression of Adam has been restored on the offer 


+ 


44 


of the Holy Ghost, and the two extremes of 
enthusiasm and profaneness should be equally 


avoided, 


of pardon by the Gospel, fall likewise? Persons, placed 
under such circumstances, and urged by the secret influ- 
ence of the Holy Ghost to flee from the wrath to come, 
can scarcely be thought more highly favoured than Adam 
was previous to his transgression: it is not very easy 
therefore to say, why they may not abuse free-will when 
wecovered, just as much as Adam did when possessed of it 
ab origine ; and why they may not neglect to use imparted 
strength, just as much as Adam did the strength which he 
received at his creation. If Adam had been drawn to a 
due performance of his duty by an irresistible impulse of 
the Spirit, it is manifest that he never could have fallen : 
fam not aware that we are warranted by Scripture te 
suppose, that the Holy Ghost acts upon ow wills in any 
different manner from what he did upon Adam's. It is 
one thing to believe, that no man can come unto Christ 
unless he be drawn by the Father through the agency of 
the Spirit; and quite another to maintain, that every per- 
son, who is thus drawn, must, necessarily and inevitably 
obey that impulse. The denial of the first of these pro. 
positions constitutes the heresy of the Pelagians; the 


asserting of the second, the error of the Calvinists. Be- 


45 


Persons of a sanguine temperament haye net 
unfrequently been so far deluded by a mischiey- 
ous fanaticism, as to mistake the workings of 
a heated imagination for the immediate dictates 
of heaven. Henee they have been sometimes 
led to undervalue even the sacred word of God, 
and to faney that they are actually taught by 
inspiration without making any use of the means 
which the Almighty has been pleased to appoint. 
The consequence of such crude and unseriptural 
- notions is sufficiently evident: the unhappy vic- 
tims of this fatal delusion fall from one absur- 
dity into another, the sport of every wind of 
doctrine, and the pity of all sober-minded Chris- 


SO 


cause Scripture appeals to us as free and reasonable be- 
ings, the former very rashly suppose, that we stand in no 
need of divine grace; because Scripture declares, that 
of ourselves we can neither will nor do that which is good, 
the latter too hastily conclude, that the influence of the 
Spirit is absolutely irresistible. But I desist from press- 
ing the matter any further: the object of the present 


treatise is net controversy. 
F2 


46 


uans. ‘Phe error, to which 1 allude, consisis 
in mistaking the extraordinary for the ordina- 
ry operations of the Spirit. We are not in the 
present day to expect any new revelations: that 
point has been sufficiently decided by St. Paul. 
Though we er an angel from heaven, says he, 
preach any other Gospel unto you than that 
which we have preached unto you, let him be ae- 
cursed.* The office of the Holy Ghost is not 
to reveal any additional doctrines to us ; but te 
enable us to understand spiritually those which 
have been already revealed. Accordingly, the 
Bereans are commended as being more noble 
than the ‘Thessalonians, not only because they 
readily received the werd, but because they 


likewise searched the Scriptures daily whether 


those things were so.t God's Holy Spirit doubt- 


fess both prevented and seconded their pious 
endeavours, illuminating their minds, and fil- 


fing them with all heavenly wisdom; for we 


* Galat. i. 8. t Acts xvii. 11. 


47 
are informed, that many of them believed ; but 
at the same time it is signified to us. that the 
external cause was their diligent attention to 
the Seriptures.* In a similar manner, al- 
theugh the Church directs her children to pray 
unto God for his inspiration,} it is only that 
they may be enabled to think those things that 
be good, and that their hearts may be cleansed 
from_all impurity; not that they may become 
prophets or apostles. Long has the extraordi- 
nary influence of the Spirit ceased, and we are 
authorised by our blessed Lord himself to con- 
sider all pretensions to it in these latter days as 


the marks whereby we may assuredly detect 


* « They —— searched the Scriptures daily, whether 
those things were so; therefore many of them believed.’ 
Acts xvii. 11, 12. 


7 Collects for the 5th Sun, after Bast. and Communion 


Service. 


48 


impostors.* One of themain artifices of Satan 
is to propagate error by issuing, as it were, 
base counterfeits of those scriptural doctrines 
which have received the stamp of God’s own 
authority. As he persuades some to sia in or- 
der that grace may abound, misealling the im- 
pure speculations of Aatinomianism justifica- 
tion by faith ; so he bewilders others in the ma- 
zes of enthusiasm, puffing them up with vain 
conceits, and distracting the peace of the 
Church, under the pretence that the wild rev- 
eries of a mad fanatic are the immediate inspi- 


ration of heaven. 


Persons of an opposite description to these, 
whose imagination outruns their judginent, ter- 
ritied and disgusted with the perversion of the 
seriptural doctrine of divine influence, have too 


hastily plunged into the other extreme ; and, 


* Matt. xxiv. 11. 23, 24, 25, 26. 


A 
3 
: 
} 


49 
though perhaps they may not absolutely have 
denied the existence of the Holy Ghost, yet 
they scarcely allow him any share in the great 
work of our conversion. Our Lord indeed 
eompares the operations of the Spirit to the 
wind, and we can no more discern the one than 
the other: nevertheless, if we have received 
the Holy Ghost, our souls must be as sensible 
of his influence by its beneficial effects, as our 
bodies are of the impulse of the air when in mo- 
tion. Unless this be allowed, it is not very easy 
to say what we are to understand by such a com- 
parison. When a total change takes place in 
a man’s soul, a change so great that it is called 
in Seripture a passage from darkness into light, 
From extinction to animation,* it is utterly im- 


possible that it should not be perceived.t This 


* 1 John ii. 8. Ephes.i.18. Ibid. ii. 1. 5.° 
7 ‘* There must be a revolution of principle : the visible 


egnduct will follow the change; but there must be a rev- 


50 


ehange consists in an illumination of the under- 
standing, a restoration of the freedom of the 
will, and a regulation of the affections. 


_ The first thing necessary towards our beeom- 


ing children of God is the illumination of the 


olution within. A change so entire, so deep, so important, 
as this, Ido allow to be a conversion; and no one, who is 
in the situation above described, can be saved without un- 
dergoing it; and he must necessarily both be sensible of 
it at the time, and remember it all his life afterwards. It 
is too momentous an event ever to be forgot. A man might 
as easily forget his escape from a shipwreck. Whether it 
was sudden, or whether it was gradual, if it was effected 
fand the fruits of it will prove that,) it was a true conver- 
sion: and every such person may justly both believe and 
say it himself, that he was converted at a particular as- 
signable time. It may not be necessary to speak of his 
conversion, but he will always think of it with unbounded 
thankfulness to the giver of all grace.” Paley’s Sermons, 


Serm. vii. 


oh a 


understanding. The Holy Ghost must shine 
into the dark recesses of our hearts and grant 
uS a spiritual discernment, or the word of God 
will for ever remaina sealed book. We may 
indeed con:prehend the literal and grammatical 
construction of the sentences, but we: shall de- 
vive no more saving knowledge frem it than 
the Jews did from the law when they crucified 
the Lord of life. The mere exertions of unas- 
sisted reason can never convey to our minds 
any knowledge.of the things of God, because 
they must be. spiritually discerned. Much has 
already been said upon this subjeet, when the 
spiritual deficiency of our understandings was 
considered. We all know that they are not 
defective in comprehending the bare letter of 
Seripture any more than that of Homer or Vir- 
gil; in whatthen are they defective, unless it 
be in spiritual discernment? This will alone 
avcount for the language of St. Paul, when he 


assures the Ephesians, that he ceases not to of- 


fer up his prayers, that the God of our Lord 


52 


Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, might give — 
unto them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation | 
in the knowledge of him ; the eyes of their un-— 
derstanding being enlightened ; that they might — 
know what is the hope of his calling, and what : 
the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the | 
‘saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of 
his power to us-ward who believe, according te — 
the working of his mighty power.* The Ephe- 
sians doubtless. pessessed the faculty of com-— 
mon discernment ; and yet the same Apostle — 
prays that they might be able to comprehend — 
with all saints what is the breadth and length, — 
and depth and height : and to know the love of - 
Christ which passeth knowledge, that they might . 


_* In this passage, according to the usual manner of the © 
sacred writers, spiritual things are exhibited to our com- 
prehension by their corresponding natural objects ; and | 
the illumination of the Holy Spirit is compared to open- 


ing the eyes of the blind. 


*} 


| a” 


be filied with the Julness of God.* Hence it 


appears that the Ephesians might read the 


Scripture without that comprehension of it, 


which the Apostle prays for on their behalf.+ 


2 


* Ephes. iii. 18. 


> Evyov Oe oo: eo wWuvtTay Paros avoiyOyvar mwmovrcse 


ev yue ruverre ove TUVVONTR WHT ETTIV, EF MN TH 


(Osos Jes CUVIEVEL Keb 6 Xeirros avrov, Just. Mart. Dial. 


eum Tryph. p. 173. 


‘¢ The first creature of God in the works of the days, 


_~ was the light of the sense; the last was the light of rea- 


son; and his sabbath work ever since is the illumination 

of his spirit. First he breathed light upon the face of the 

matter of chaos; then he breathed li ght upon the face of 

man; and still breaketh and inspireth light into the face _ 
of his chosen.” Lord Bacon’s Essay on Truth. 

“ Absurd.is the doctrine of the Socinians and some 
others, that unresenerate men, by a mere natural perception, 
without any divine superinfused light (they are the words 
of Episcopius, and they are wicked words) may understand 

& 


From these remarks it is sufficiently evident, 


that, although Christ died for the sins of the 


+ 


the whole law, even all things requisite unto faith and god- 
liness ; foolishly confounding and impiously deriding the 
spiritual and divine sense of the Holy Scriptures with the 
grammatical construction. Against this we shall need 
use no other argument than a plain syllogism compounded 
out of the words of Scripture: Darkness doth not compre- 
hend light, (John i. 5.;) Unregenerate men are darkness, 
(Ephes. vy. 8 iv. 17,18. Acts xxvi. 18. 2 Pet.i.9.) yea, 
held under the power of darkness, (Col. i. 13.) and The 
word of Godis light, (Psalm cxix. 105. 2 Cor. iv, 4.) there- 
fore unrdecieraie men cannot understand the word in that 
spiritual compass which it carries —Natural men have their . 
principles vitiated, their faculties bound, that they cannot 
understand spiritual things, till God have, as it werd im- 
planted a new understanding in them, framed the heart to 
attend, and set it at liberty to see the glory of God with 
epen face. Though the veil do not keep out grammatical 
construction, yet it blindeth the heart against the Spirittial 
lightand beauty of the word.” Bishop Reynolds’s Works, ” 
p. 44. : 


55 
whole world, yet none will ever truly acknow- 
ledge him as their Lord except by the influence 
and operation of the blessed Spirit. Before he 
opens their eyes to see wonderful things out of 
God’s Law, they ave as totally devoid of all 
spiritual understanding, as a blind man is of 
the faculty of discerning material objects. 


These objects exist, indeed ; but, from the de- 


*‘ Spiritus Paracletus illum longe docet melius, quam 
universi libri: ut absolutius intelligat scripturam, quam 
explanari illi queat.”, Luther. Enarrat. Fol. 275..A. 

‘* Secundus gradus est donatio spiritus sancti, qui no- 
vam lucem in mente, et novos motus in voluntate et corde, 
accendit; gubernat nos; et inchoat in nobis vitam eter- 
nam.” . Melanc. Loc. Theol. p. 731. See also King Ed- 
ward’s Catechism in Bp. Randolph’s Enchiridion, vol. i. p. 
41.—Neel’s Catechism, Ibid. vol. ii. p. 132.—Bp. Bever- 
idge’s Private Thoughts, Art. viili—Bp. Wilkins on 
Prayer, chap. xvii.—Bp. Reynold’s Works, p. 305. 463.— 
Dr. Barrow’s Works, vol. iii. p. 529, 530, 531.—Jones’s 
Essay on Man, chap. iii. 


56 

ficieney of his organs of vision, they are unable 

to make any impression upon his mind. 
Hence, as I have already observed, the first 
step, which the Holy Spirit takes in the con- 
version of a sinner, is to open the eyes of his 
understanding.* While men remain ina state 
of carnal security, the sound of God’s word 
passes by them as little regarded as the wind. 
They have no conception of the spirituality of 
the Law nor of the purity of God. Provided 
only a decent exterior be preserved and the 
penal statutes of the land be unviolated, they 


imagine that all is perfectly safe, and that it 


* « The first work, which God puts forth upon the soul, 
in order to its conversion, is, to raise up a spiritual light 
within it, to clear,.up its apprehensions about spiritual 
matters, so as to enable the soul to.look upon God as the 
chiefest good, and the enjoyment of him as the greatest 


bliss.” Bp. Beveridge’s Private Thoughts, Art. viii. 


57 
would be equally absurd and uncharitable io 
doubt of. the certainty of their salvation. “In 
the mean time they forget that God is a search- 
er of the heart, that he requires truth in the 
inward parts, and that he is of purer eyes than 
to behold the least iniquity. ‘Their boasted 
morality is for the most part merely negative : 
it ¥ rather an absence of the overt acts of sin, 
than a presence.of real holiness. Though they 
duly make a weekly acknowledgment of their 
sinfulness:in strict conformity with the liturgy 
of the Chureh; yet they repeat the confession 
rather as words of course, than as feeling the 
truth of it from bitter experience : and, though 
they punctually receive the sacrament «at the 
least three times in the year,’”’ and avow that 
«the remembrance of their misdoings is griev- 
ous unto them and the burden of them intole- 
rable ;” yet, notwithstanding the strength of 
the language which they adopt, it is much to. 
be questioned whether they be really sensible 


° ° é 
of the vast weight of sin. If pressed closely. 
G % 


5 


98 


upon this: subject, they invariably deny that 
depth of corruption, that mystery of iniquity, 
by which every faculty of the human soul, 
every thought and word and deed of the very 
_best man upon earth, is more or less polluted, 
and unclean. ‘They will probably acknow- 
ledge venial errors, pardonable frailties, and. 
trifling lapses; but the doctrine, that man is 
very far gone from original righteousness, that 
of his own nature he is inclined to evil, that he 
deserveth God’s wrath and damnation, and 
that he is by nature a child of wrath, is rejeet- 
ed by them with all the sd ad feelings of a 


praue indignation.* 


EE EE LL LI LL LLL A LL 


* It is no uncommon thing in the present day to hear 
various orthodox doctrines stigmatized as being Calvinis- 
tic, When in truth they are no more peculiar to Calvinism 
than to any other doctrinal system. Such has been the 
fate of the tenet of original sin. They, who deny it, find — 
it much more convenient to term those, who maintain it, 


Calcéeists, than to abide by the plain and explicit decision 


“59° 


. From tins utter ignorance ot their own eor- 


ruption, they will usually be found strongly in- ' 


of the Church in her 9th Article. All Calvinists do in- 
_ deed hold it; but it does not therefore follow, that, all, 
who hold it, are Calvinists, any more than that all Trini- 
tarians are Papists. «Our Articles,” says Bishop Hors- 
Iey, ‘“ affirm certain things, which we hold in common 
_with the Calvinists: so they affirm certain things, which 
we hold in common with the Lutherans ; and some thing's, 
which we hold in common withthe RoManists.. It cannot 
well be otherwise; for; as there are certain principles 
which are common to all Protestants, so the essential arti- 
cles of faith are common to all Christians.” Horsley’s 
Tracts, p. 398. Since this was written, his Lordship has 
very judiciously advised those, who are eager to signalize 
their prowess against the doctrinal system of the Genevan 
reformer, first to learn what Calvinism is exelusively ; lest 
t haply, instead of assailing certain adventurous peculiarities, 
they direct their attacks against our common Christianity 
itself. 

t ‘Ne, pueri, ne tanta animis assuescite bella: — 


Neu patrie validas in viscera vertite vires, 


60 


clined to the dangerous delusion of’ self-justifi- 
eation. ‘Their notion is, that although they be 

frail creatures, yet they humbly trust they are 

not quite so bad as some persons would repre- 

sent them. They doubt not, but that their 

works will justify them as far as they go> that 
the merits of the Redeemer will make up all’ 
deficiencies ; and that the infinite merey of 
God will throw a veil over their casual imper- 

fections. Upon the whole, they are inclined to 

hope that their good deeds far outweigh their 

occasional errors ; and, to use the language of 
the poet, that they are men «more sinned 
against than sinning :”’? at any rate, that their 

hearty repentance. and the pains and troubles 

Which they encounter here, will make ample 

atonement for all their transgressions. Thus, 

while they acknowledge in words the necessity 

of a Saviour, they in reality depend much 

more upon their own imaginary righteousness 

than upon the merits of Christ. 


61 

~The whole of this arises from spiritual blind- 
ness; for if they really understood the purport 
of the Law, they would never dream that their 
own miserable performances could either par- 
tially or universally merit the favour of God. 
Like the infatuated Jews in the days of our 
Lord, they have the Scriptures in their hands, 
and perhaps occasionally peruse ‘them; but 
they are totally unconscious that they are read- 
ing their own condemnation. They slumber 
over the sacred page, and perceive ‘not that 
their curse is there recorded. Cursed is every 
one, that abideth not in allihe things of this Law. 
Their eyes are closed, so that they are unable 
to perceive their numerous violations of it, in 
thought, word, anddeed. Hence the Law is to 
them a dead letter; and they remain ina state 

of utter ignorance of its spiritual design. 
« We and our whole nature,” says the illus- 
{rious Luther, « are entirely blind 3 nor is our 


reason more ignorant of any thing, than of the 


62. 
requisitions of God’s Law. Christ conferred 
a double benefit upon the Seribes and Phari- 
sees: he first took away their blindaess, by 
showing them what the Law is; and afterwards 
taught them, how far the perfeet observance of 
_ it exceeds their abilities.. He. took away their 
blindness by informing them that the Law is 


love ; which doctrine bare reason is equally in- 


capable of reeciving at present, as the Jews 


were formerly. For, if reason could have com- 


prehended it, the Pharisees and the Lawyers, 


who'at that time were the best and. wisest 


amon the people, would doubiless have eom- 


prebended it. But they imagined that the 
- whole matter consisted in performing the exter- 
nal works of the Law; and that it was of little 
moment, whether they were done voluntarily 
or involuntarily. Meanwhile their internal 
blindness, their avarice, and their darkened 
heart, passed without observation ; | and they 
fancied that they were accurately discharging 
theirduty. But no one is able to keep the Law; 


¢ 


‘63 


unless he be totally renewed. Be assured 
therefore of this, that mere reason can never 
either understand or fulfil the Law, even though 
it may be aequainted with: what the Law con- 
tains. When do you do unto others, as you 
would they should do unto you?) Who ever 
heartily loved his enemy ? Who ever died yol- 
untarily ?: Who will undergo with readiness con- 
tumely and disgrace ? Produce me only a single 
man, who willingly submits to the ignominy of 
-a blasted character, or to the meonveniences 
of poverty. Nature and human reason abhor 
and shun such trials ; and will always, if pos- 
sible, avoid them. Nor will human nature ever 
fulfil those things, which God requires in the 
Law; namely, that we should make a volun- 
tary surrender of our will to bis will; that we 
‘should renounce our intellect, our inclinations, 
our faculties, and our powers, so completely, 

as to be able to say, with a hearty assent, Thy | 
‘will bedone. So tar from this, you will never 


find a man, who loves God and his neighbour 


CiB4, 
equally with himself.—It is mere hypoerisy to. 
say, I do lowe God, he is my Father, So long 
in deed as he refrains from, crossin g our inclina- 
tions, we can readily use such language ; but, in 
| the day of trouble and calamity, we neither re- 
gard him as God, nor asour Father. Widely . 
different from these are the sentiments of him 
who sincerely loves God. Jam thy creature, O 
Lord, do with me as it seemeth best to thy good 
pleasure. Ifit please thee, that I should. die 
this cery hour, or be plunged into the midst of 
evils, I cheerfully submit, _ My life, my reputa- 
tion, my property, amy all, I hold. as nothings 
when placed in competition with thy will. But 
What mortal man can you find, who will always 
hold such language. as_this with sincerity 2 
The Law. requires that nothing should be even 
disagreeable to you, which is agreeable te God; 
that you should willingly observe all his pre- 
cepts and all his prohibitions, throughout the 
whole of your life and conversation... But there 


exists not the man who stands uncondemned 


65 


for his breach of that Law, which God requires 
to be observed. Such is the trouble and afflie- 
tion. in which we are involved; nor are we in 
the least able to extricate ourselves. This 
then is the first knowledge of the Law; to 
know that it is impossible for human strength 
to observe it, God requires the heart; and, un- 
less our works be done from the heart, they 
are of no value in his sight. Works indeed 
you may do in outward appearance ; but God 
is not satisfied with them, unless they spring 
from the soul and from love: which ean never 
be the case, unless a. man be born again of the 
spirit. Wherefore the end of the Law is to 
bring us to acknowledge our infirmity, insomuch 
that of ourselves we are not able to perform 
even the letter of the Law. As soon as you 
are convinced of this, the Law has done its 
duty. Hence St. Paul asserts that by the Law 


is the knowledge of sin.’’* 


* Juther. Enarrat. Fol. 335. G. 
hed wr, 


66 
_ Let persons of the class which I have been 
deseribing try their hearts, with fidelity and 
sincerity, by this admirable passage. Let 
them see, whether they love God as they ought 
to do; whether they keep his statutes and his 
-ordinanees in the manner which he has pre- 
seribed ; whether they find their whole souls 
so totally devoted to his service, as to exclude 
every vain thought and every foolish wish ; 
whether their life be spent in an unceasing 4 
round of duties, both negative and positive. 
All this is required by the Law without any 
initigation and abatement. Hence, to those, 
who seek to be justified by their works it is 
the savour of death unto death: for they, who ‘ 
would be justified by the Law, must keep the 
Law. Hence also it is absolutely necessary, 
that the Holy Spirit should open the eyes of 
their understanding, in order that they may — 
discern the purity of the Law, and the extent — 
of their danger. ‘Till his gracious influences 


pervade their hearts, every spiritual sense is — 


87 
benumbed by ignorance and steeped in error. 
‘They see not the corruption, which is the in- 
heritance of all the children of Adam; even 
the word of Ged cannot persuade them of the 
veality of its existence. All, who attempt to 
convince then of it, are considered only in the 
light of gloomy hypechondriacs, ever brooding 
over imaginary evils. ‘Their words appear to 
them as idle tales, which they cannot compre- 
hend and will not believe. Seripture alone 
ean account for so singular a difference be- 
tween these two classes of men. The one is 
“possessed of a sense, of which the other is des- 
titute. The natural man receiveth not the 
things of the Spirit of God ; for they are fool- 
ishness unto him: neither can he know them, be- 
cause they are spiritually discerned.* This spir- 
itual discernment is the special gift of the Hol y 
- Ghost. Itis he, who causes the proud sinner 


to see clearly the requisitions of the Law, and 


————.. 


es 


* 1 Corinth. ii. 14. 


68 


his own utter inability to perform them. Itis — 
he, who destroys that comfortable self-suflici- — 
eney, that hollow security, in which the soul 
had long reposed; and who, armed with all — 
the thunder of Sinai, reuses the sleeping con- | 
science, and arrests the unwilling attention. 
At the bar of sucha judge every plea is re- 
jected, and the stubborn reluctant sinner is — 
compelled to plead guilty. He will now tho- | 
roughly comprehend the meaning of St. Paul’s | 
confession: I had not known sin, but by the — 
Law: for I had not known lust, except the — 
Law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, : 
taking occasion by the commandment, wrought — 
in me all manner of concupiscence. For with- 
out the Law sin was dead. For I was alive 
aphot the Law once: bul, when the com- 
mandment came, sin revived, and I died. And 
the commandment, which was ordained to life, 
fi found to be unto death. For sin, taking 
occasion by the commandment, deceived mes — 


and by it slew me. Wherefore the Law is 


69 

holy ; and the commandment holy and just and 
good. Was then that whichis good made death 
uniome? God Jorbid. But sin, that it might 
appear sin, working death in me by that which 
is goods that sin by the commandment might 
become exceeding sinful. _ For we know that 
the law is spiritual; but IE am carnal, sold 
under sin.* 


So long as St. Paul remained in his uncon- 
yerted state, he was totally unconscious of the 
spirituality of the Law, and perceived not that 
it eontained the sense of his condemnation. 
While he was thus placed without the real 
Law, he seemed to himself alive ;- and enter- 
tained not the slightest doubt of his having 
merited salvation, being, as he elsewhere ex- 
presses himself, touching the righteousness 
which is in the Law, blameless.t But, as soon 


as the Holy Spirit opened his eyes, and when 


) a ae rin aba ih 


* Rom vii. 7. } Phill. iii. 6. 
H 2 


the commandment came, attended with a clear 


conviction of his numerous breaches of it, and 
his utter inability to keep it; sin revived, and 
he evidently saw that he lay under sentence of 
death. He was compelled indeed to acknow- 
ledge the Law to be holy, and just, and good ; 
but this very excellence served only to in- 
‘erease his condemnation. ‘Though the com- 
mandment was ordained to life, he found it to 


be-wnto death; a consequence whieh arose, not 


eee rrr eee 


from the imperfection of the Law, but from 4 


the depravity of his own nature. The Holy 
Ghest having enabled him to see the spiritu- 
ality of the Law, he then for the first time 
perceived that he was carnal, sold under sin. 
And so deep was the impression which this 
conyiction made upon his mind, that it foreed 
him to exclaim ina kind of agony: O wretched 
man that Tam! who shall deliver me from the 
body of this death? He was now brought inte 
a proper frame of mind to receive the Gospel 


of Christ. He saw his own manifold corrup- 


74 

tons and the extreme sinfulness of his sin; he 
perceived that he was unable of himself to 
help himself, and that his yery best deeds 
gould not stand the scrutiny of him, whe 
chargeth ecen his angels with folly. This con- 
viction forced him to look unto Christ for sal- 
yation, and to submit himself to the righteous- 
ness of God. The Gospel was now to hima 
savour of life unto life; he renounced all de- 
pendence on his own goodness, and humbly 
thanked God for the pardon held out to him 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. 


Such were the varying emotions of St. Paul’s 
heart, while the great work of illumination 
was going on within him ; and such (for human 
“nature is the same in all ages,) must be the 
convictions of every one, whom the Holy Spirit 
_eondescends to instruct. We are not indeed 
to imagine that the sincerity ofa man’s conver- , 
sion is to be estimated by the strength of his 


feelings. The converted profligate will natu- 


72 


rally be more deeply sensible of those stings, 
which a consciousness of the violated Law in- 
flicts upon the soul, than the decent moral man, 
who begins to suspect the safety of relying 
upon his own righteousness: and the warmer 
a man’s natural feeliags are, the stronger will 
be his terror when labouring under a sense of 
guilt; for Christianity does not so much erad- 
ieate the passions, as enlist them into her ser- 
viee. But men of all temperaments must be 
thoroughly convinced of their own exceeding 
vileness, whatever their feelings may be upon 
the occasion, or their understandings will never 
be sufficiently enlightencd to perceive the ne- 
cessity of a mediator. They may indeed, pre- 
vious to this conviction, acknowledge the want 
of a Saviour with their lips, and own in general 
terms that their lives are not perfectly free 
from sin: but, with respeet to the hopes which 
they entertain of their salvation, they will 
ever be found to place their principal depend- 


ence oa the.blamelessness of their lives, their 


73 


benevolence towards their fellow-creatures, 
and (in their more thoughtful hours) on some 


vague notions of God’s merey. 


Observe the workings of a really humbled 
mind in the confession of Bp. Beveridge. « If,” 
says he, « there be not a bitter root in my 
heart, whence proceeds so much bitter fruit in 
my life and conversation? Alas! I can neither 
set my head nor heart about any thing, but I 
still show myself to be the sinful offspring of 
sinful parents, by being the sinful parent of a 
sinful offspring. Nay, I do not only betray 
the inbred venom of my heart, by poisoning 
my common actions, but even my most religious 
performances also, with sin. I cannot pray; 
but I sin; I cannot hear, or preach a sermon, 
but I sin; I cannot give an alms, or receive 
the sacrament, but I sin; nay, I cannot so 
much as eonfess my sins, but my very confes- 
sions are still aggrayations of them; my re- 


pentance needs to he repented of, my tears 


4 


want washing, and the very washing of my 
tears needs still te be washed over again with | 
the blood of my Redeemer. ‘Thus, not only — 
the worst of my sins, but even the best of my 

duties, speak mea child of Adam: Insomuch, — 
that whensoever I reflect upon my past actions, 
methinks I cannot but look upon my whole 
life, from the time of my conception to this 


very moment, to be but as one continued act 
of sin.”’* | 


When a person is once brought into this state 
of mind, he will then, and not till then, begin 
to think seriously of another world. He will 
perceive himself to be a miserable, helpless, 
undone sinner, justly obnoxious to the wrath 
ef God. Instead of attempting to excuse and 
palliate his depravity, he will anticipate the 
sentence of his judge, and be the first to pro- 


nounce condemnation upon himself. He will 


nae 


’ te-« 


* Priv. thoughts, Art. iv. 


795 

see the impossibility of cleansing his impurity, 
and the vanity of expecting to purchase salva- 
tien by any inherent righteousness of his own. 

Tt costs more to redeem his soul, so that he must 
“let that alone for ever. When he considers 
his past life, he will be astonished at his for- 
mer ignorance and insensibility. He will seem 
to linself like one roused from a deep sleep, 
in which every faculty ef his soul had been 

completely locked up; but he will awake only 
to perceive himself destitute, bare, and mis- 


erable. 


Seip So rose the Danite strong, 
Herculean Sampson from the harlot lap 
Of Philistean Dalilah, and wak’d, 
Shorn of his strength ......... 


tie will now, with the astonished) jailor, be 
ready to ery out, What shali I do to be saved? 
Driven from every strong-hold of vanity and 


presumption, he will leave the absurdly proud 


76 


potion of self-justification to the blind Socinian 
and arrogant Pelagian. However he may once 
have indulged in the fantastie airy dream of 
his own excellence and dignity, he will now 
elearly perceive, that there is no hone, no com- 
fort, no solid expectation of future happiness, 
but in the name and through the merits of 
Jesus Christ. 


CHAPTER III. 


= $¢ 


<1 description of two different Classes of Men, 
whose understandings are enlightened, while 


their hearts remain unaffected. 


T'wo very different classes of men frequently 
attain to a considerable, I had almost said an 
equal, degree of spiritual knowledge with re- 
| spect to the sinfulness of sin and the requisi- 
tions of the divine Law. They are both deeply 
convinced of the depravity of the human heart. 
They are both conscious of their manifold 


aberrations and deficiencies in practice. They 
r 


78 


both feel the load of their iniquity to be griev- 
ous and intolerable. Neither of these classes 
attempts to justify itself. Each is forced by 
conscience to ery out Unclean, unclean. Each 


is secretly constrained to acknowledge the 


“al ii anes el ele ae 


righteousness of God. Thus far the parallel - : 


holds good between them, but here it termi- 
nates; anda striking difference commences, 
which will best be discerned by a separate de- 


lineation of the character of each. 


1. The anguish, which persons of the first 


description feel, arises merely from a conscious- 


ness of guilt and from.adread of threatened — 


punishment. In their case there is no spirit- 
ual loathing of the blackness of sin, no horror 
of it springing from the knowledge of its hate- 
fulness to God, no indignation, no vehement (le- 
sire, no xeul, no revenge.* 'The tempest in their 
hearts is conjured up solely by terror, unmixed 


ge negra A A I TE AAA EE A a 


* 92 Cor. vii. 11. 


79 

terror. ‘They feel nothing of filial sorrow at ha- 
ving offended their heavenly Father; they feel 
no compunetion at having counted the blood of 
atonement an unholy thing; they feel no grief 
at having resisted the gracious influences of 
the Holy Spirit. Sin still reigns triumphant in 
their hearts; and they inwardly abhor that 
Law, which strikes at the very existence of 
their idol. Were all fears of future punish- 
ment removed, and were they assured beyond 
a possibility of doubt, that mere annihilation 
would hereafter be their portion; these joyful 
tidings would wipe away all tears from their 
eyes, and remove every uneasy thought from 
their heart. Let us eat and drink, for to-mor- 
row we die. ‘Chey would return with avidity 
to their former vicious indulgences, regardless, 
whether their conduct was pleasing or dis- 
pleasing to the Most High. It is not sin that 
they hate, but the wages of sin; it is not God 
that they love, but their own safety. 


80 

In vain is the wonderful goodness and long 
suffering of the Lord held up before the eyes 
of their understanding. ‘The numberless bless- 
ings which they enjoy, the numberless evils 
from which they are exempt, the patience with 
which God has endured their perverseness, the 
epportunities which he has given them of re- 


pentance, the tender loving kindness with 


which he condescendingly solicits (as it were) 


a reconciliation with them; like Gallio, they 
care for none of these things. In vain for 
them doth the whole creation proclaim the 
beneficence of the great Creator. In vain for 
them doth he cause the sun to shine, and the 
seasons to revolve in grateful vicissitude. In 
vain for them doth he, by the powerful ma- 


chinery of nature, send the springs into the 


rivers, which run among the hills. In vain- 


for them, by the united operation of various 
eauses, doth he bring food out of the earth. 
and wine that maketh glad the heart of man, 
and oil to make him a cheerful countenance; 


Si 


and bread to strengthen man’s heart.* They 
will riot in these blessings even to satiety ; the 
harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, are in 
their feasts : but they regard not the work of 
the Lord, neither consider the operation of his 


hands.} 


‘The mysterious act of mercy displayed in 
man’s redemption may be described to them, 
but it exeites no feeling of gratitude in their 
souls. ‘The blameless life, the wonderful love, 
the bitter sufferings, and the lingering death, 
of the Son of Ged are acknowledged in words 
indeed, but fail to touch their hearts. Though 
salvation be freely offered to them, though the 
mild voice of the Redeemer -ealls upon all who 
thirst to drink of the water of everlasting life ; 
they angrily dash the proffered cup from their 
lips, and hate that mode of salvation which re- 


* Psalm civ. 10. _ «Isaiah v. 12. 
12 


32 


quires the. dereliciion of sin. In short, their 
understandings are convineed, but their hearts 
remain unteuched.. They see the danger of sin, 
but they love it and cleave to it; they perceive 
the necessity of a life of holiness but they detest 
and abhor it. Like the devils, they believe 
and tremble ; but, like them also, they fight in- 
dignantly. against the Lord and against his 
Christ... Even the ox knoweih his owner, and 
the ass his master’s crib: but they are dead to 
every sense of gratitude ; they consider God in 
the light of a tyrant, who. seeks to deprive 


them of their dearest enjoyments. 


_% The power of the werd,” says Bp. Rey- 
nolds, « towards wicked men is seen in af- 


frighiing of them; there isa spirit of bond- 


age, and a savour of death, as well as a spirit — 


of life and liberty, which goeth along with the — 


word. Guilt is an inseparable consequent of 
sin; and fear, of the manifestation of guilt. Ef 


the heart be once convinced of this, it will pre- 


83 


sently faint, and tremble, even at the shaking 
of a leaf, at the wagging of a man’s own con- 
science; how much more at the voice of the 
Lord, which shaketh mountains and maketh 
the strong foundations of the earth to tremble ? 
—It is not for want of strength in the word, or 
because there is stoutness in the hearts of men 
to stand, out against it, that all the wicked of 
the world do not iremble at it, but merely their 
ignorance of the power and evidence thereof. 
‘The devils are stronger and more stubborn 
ereatures than any man can be; yet, because: 
of their full illumination and that invincible 
conviction of their consciences from the power 
ofthe word, they believe and tremble at it.— 
The power of the ingrafied word towards 
wicked men is seen even in the rage and mad- 
ness which it excites in them. It is a sign, 
that a man hath to do witha strong enemy, 
when he buckleth on all his harness, and ealleth 
together all his strength for opposition.—The 


most calm and devout hypocrites in the world 


Si, 
have by the power of this word been put eut 
of their demure temper, and mightily trans- 
ported with outrage and bitterness against the 
majesty thereof: one time filled with wrath ; 
another time filled with madness; another 
time filled with envy and indignation ; another 
time filled with contradiction and blasphemy . 
another time cut to the heart, and, like repro- 
bates in hell, gnashing with their teeth. Such _ 
a searching power and such an extreme con- 
trariety there is in the Gospel to the lusts of 
men, that if it do mot subdue, it will wonder- 
fully swell them up, till it distemper even the 
grave prudent men of the world with those 
brutish and uncomely affeetions of rage and 
fury, and drive disputes from their arguments 
untd stones. Sin cannot endure to be disqui- 
eted, much less to be shut in and encompassed 
with the curses of God’s word. ‘Therefore, 
as a- hunted beast, in an extremity of distress, 
will turn back, and put (o its utmost strength 


to be revenged on the pursuers and to save its 
f 


85 


life ; so wicked men, to save their lusts, will 
let out all their rage, and open all their sluices 
of pride and malice to withstand that holy truth, 
which doth so closely pursue them.*—Till men — 
ean be persuaded to lay apart all filthiness and 
superfluity of naughtiness, they will never re- 
ceive the ingrafted word with meekness. For 
till then it is a binding word, which sealeth their 


guilt and condemnation upon them.’} 


Perhaps no state of mind is more deplorable 
than that in which an enlightened understand- 
ing is united to an unconverted heart. It isa 
state totally devoid of peace and comfort, full of 
terror and a fearful looking out-for of judg- 

* To mev MAT MY EAMTERVEL, Lows ovdev mparyjmc? 
Abnvarors YEP Tol, ws EmoL Doxey ov ohodpe “peret, “ay 
Five Oetvoy OlLWYTAas ELYRsy (KY jeveel Odarnmrixoy THs 
auto Tobias: oy ” HY KL KAAOUS OLAYTE Wotesy TOLOUVTOUES 
Sypovyre:. Plat. Kuthyphron. § 3. 

} Bp. Reynold’s Works, p. 365, 366, 367. 


Sf 


ment and fiery indignation. The eyes of the 
mind are opened, so as to discern clearly that 


he is not a Christian who is one outwardly. 


— 


‘The awakened conscience is tremblingly alive — 


to every touch. It perceives the necessity of — 


repentance ; and it acknowledges the obliga- 
tion laid upon all true believers to take up their 
cross and follow Christ. But the will and the 
affections are wanting ; a secret hatred and re-, 


luctance reigns in the heart; and the whole 


man loathes the burden which he conceives to — 


be imposed upon him. Meanwhile a person of 


this description is deeply convinced, that, with — 


his present temper and disposition, it is utterly 
impossible for him to enter into the kingdom of 
heaven. He knows that he labours under a 


natural unfitness for it, and that he could find 


no happiness even in the presence of God him- | 


self, unless a complete change should previously 
take plave in his heart. This awful truth is 
evident, beyond a possibility of contradiction, to 


the man whose understanding has been so far 


87° 

enlightened as to comprehend the requisitions of 
the Law and the nature of holiness ; but, his 
" heart being at ihe same time totally unaffected 
and unaltered, he cannot conceive what pleas- 
ure there can be in a perpetual communion with 
God and in the purely spiritual Joys of heayen.. 
Hence arises his misery ; he knows that he is 
unfit for heaven, and he shudders at the 
thoughts of hell. Gladly would he escape into 
some middle place of abode, were any such in 
existence, equally undisturbed by the presence 
of God and the torments of the damned. His 
_ future destiny perpetually haunts his imagina-. 

tion: and he ilies from himself to seek relief in, 
the midst of company and. dissipation. For a 
time, he probably sueceeds ; fora time, he con- 
trives to silence his conscience. The ever- 
varying pageant of vain amusements gradually 
banishes the recollection of those deep impres- 
sions which he had formerly received; and he 
onec more feels something at least of the plea- 


sures ef this world, But, if ever the strings of 


88 

eenscience happen to be again touched, he re- 
lapses into all his former misery ; @ miserys 
moreover, now too frequently mixed with a 
sor of hellish rage and malice against his mon- 
itor. Perhaps the Gospel is never sincerely 
explained and enforced, without either effecting 
a change in the heart, or exciting a spirit of 
bitter animosity and determined opposition. 
Men cannot bear to have their false tranquillity — 
broken in upon; they cannot bear to have the 
truth faithfully set before them ; they cannot 
bear to have the carnal security of their sinful 
pleasures disturbed. Provided these points be - 
not touched upon, they will listen with the ut- 
most complacency to an eulogy on the beauty ~ 
of virtue and the dignity of human nature : buts 
the moment they are compelled to look within 
themselves, their patience fails them, and they 
are sometimes altogether unable even to conceal 
their indignation. 

II. The second class, which I purposed to 


describe, is composed of persons of a character 


89 
faitidally> different from that of the former. 
These! see their duty to its full extent; they 
thoroughly comprehend the spirituality of 
the Law; and they readily acknowledge’ the 
greatness of their religious obligations : but, at 
the same time, they can find no inward satisfae- 
- tion, no secret complacency, in obeying the di- 
vine commandments. I am not. at present 
speaking of those who indulge in grosser sins : 
it would be almost an insult to praise a man, 
who had made outa tlie ldact progress in Chris- 
tianity, on aecount of his sobriety or his hon- 
esty.* The defect in the persons, whose cha- 
racters J am describing, consists in their hay- 
ing a will untamed, unbending, and unsubdued. 
Their affections are too much placed on things 
below, and too little on things above. Whatever 
duties they perform are discharged from a sense 


of religious obligation merely; not from finding 


oauinaminaneeaeeeee 


o 
» “Tntegritatem atque abstinentiam in tanto viro re- 
ferre injuria virtutum fuecrit.” Tacit. Vit. Agric. & 9. 
K S 


90 
in the discharge of them that spiritual pleasure, _ 
that communion with God, which appears to 
be at once the happiness and the privilege of a 
Christian. They do not take up the yoke with 
their whole heart, though conscience forees 
them in some measure to submit to it. They 
are strangers to that, which is prophesied of 
our Lord in the Psalms; [delight to do thy will 
O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart -* 
nor can they comprehend how it could be his 
meat to do the will of him that’ sent him.+ 
They attempt indeed to perform this will ; but 
every effort is evief and weariness to them. 
They strive to conquer their dislike ; but in- 


stead of yielding, if seems rather to increase. 


Thus far they coincide in some measure’ 
with those unhappy men, whose case has been: 
already described ; but here, the grand, the 
eonstituent, difference between them coni- 

rae Se 


* Psalm xl. 8. + John iv. 34. 


Yi 


mences. . ‘The former detest and oppose the law 
of God : the latter Simply derive no pleasure 
from paying obedience io it, and are not inter- 
ested in its precepts as they could wish to be. 
The first absolutely hate the divine image, 
which shines conspicuously in the character of 
every true Christian : the second love it, and 
labour earnestly to acquire it, grieving bitterly 
at the waywardness and perverseness of their 
hearts. The first are anxious to stifle the 
voice of con science, and burn with rage against 
any person who attempts to rouse it: the se- 
eond endeavour to keep the conscience tender, 
and do not cease to regard a neighbour as a 
friend, though he may point out failings and de- 
ficiencies. In short, the former stumble at the 
very. threshold of Christianity : while the latter 
lament their unwillingness, yet continue striv- 


ing to acquire a relish for their duty. 


The condition of this second description of 


persons is doubtless uncomfortable, but yet 


92 
very far es apprehend) from being dangerous. 
Let not such despair: let them not doubt, but 
that God, in his own good time, will accom- 
plish the work, which he has begun within 
them. That they are possessed of any good 
wishes, that their hearts are af all inclined, 
however small that inclination may be, towards 
a desire of gaining the favour of God, is an 
argument of greater blessings yet in store for 
them. Every good and every perfect gift com- 
eth from above; nor is a single one bestowed 
without carrying with it a demonstration of 
good will towards man. However dark and 
clouded may be the prospects of those, who 
acknowledge and lament the hardness of their 
hearts and their utter disinclination towards 
that which is good ; blessed be God! despon- 
dency ought not to be their portion. He, who 
has promised that he will not bruise the broken- 
reed nor quench the smoking flax, would never 
have raised those wishes for a better disposi- 


tion of the heart, without an intention te 


93 


gratify them. Ask, and ye shall have; seek, 
and ye shall find, is one of those comfortable 
promises, with which Seripture abounds: and 
we cannot, we ought not to doubt, but that the 
strength of Israel will except every one with- 
out distinction, who cometh to him in his Son’s 
naine. It is even possible, that a man’s heart 
may be sincerely attached to God, when he 
himself is the most ready to suspeet its sinceri- 
ty. Actions, not words, are the best proofs of 
a state of grace ; and the performance of 
_ those duties, from which our natural inclina- 
tions shrink, is assuredly the very highest ex- 
ertion of religious obedience. Thus, if we 
may argue from our intercourse with each 
other, we are accustomed to set a much great- 
er value upon the friendship, which will ex- 
pose itself for our sake to difficulties and in- 
conveniences, than upen that which in serving 
us merely gratifies its own inclinations. The 
road of duty is indeed thorny and painful to 


those, whose natural affections run ina differ- 
3 ye CE 
K°2 


94: 


ent channel: but let them earnestly pray to 
God to grant them strength and perseverance, 
to remove their heart ‘of stone, and to give 
them a heart of flesh. The first of these peti- 
tions he will most assuredly listen to’; and, if 
the second be not immediately granted, they 
may be certain that the refusal proceeds from 
wise reasons’ best known to himself.» He may 
for a time be deaf to their intreaties, with a 
aie to try their faith and to exercise their 
patience ; to show them, what weak, misera- 
ble, helpless creatures they are without his 
assistance ; and to train them up in the school 
of spiritual discomfort, in order that they may 
be better prepared for the everlasting rest of 
heaven. This dissatisfaction with the world 
-and with themselves proceeds from God; and 
however painful it may be for the present, let 
them reeollect, that the chastisement of their 
heavenly Father is the result, not of hatred, 
but of love. The sordid worldling, and the 
‘dissipated yoluptuary, are strangers to that 


= 


95 


A 


eoniliet between duty and inclination, which 
exists in a greater or in a less degree within 
the bosom of every Christian. Hence it is 
evident that such a struggle, provided only that 
duty generally prevails, is an evidence of spi- 
ritual life. Lhe dead feel not ; the living only 
possess the powers of action and sensation. In 
the mean time, till God is pleased to. grant 
them more of that peace which passeth all un- 
derstanding, Jet them strengthen their hearts 


with some such promises as the following. 


For a small moment hace I forsaken thee : 
but with great mercies will L gather thee. Ina 
little wrath I hid my face from thee for a mo- 
ment ; but with everlasting kindness will £ have 
mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. 
For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be 
removed; but my kindness shall not depart from 
thee, neither shall the covenani of my peace be 
removed, saith the Lord, that hath mercy on 


thee. Oh, thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, 


96 


and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones 
with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with 
sapphires. And I will make thy windows of 
agates, and thy gates with carbuneles, and all 
thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy 
children shall be taught of the Lord: and great 
shall be the peace of thy children. In right- 
eousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt 
be far from oppression ; for thou shalt not fear: 
and from terror; for it shall not come near 
thee. No weapon that is formed against thee 
shall prosper ; and every tongue, that shalt 
rise against theein judgment, thou shalt con- 
demn. This is the heritage of the servants of 
the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith 
the Lord.* } 
et) AL bic aka al MERE 5 ed UBD Cath La ak 


* Fsaiah liy. 7. 


CHAPTER IV. 


- 
ee + 


The influence of the Holy Spirit upon the will. 


Man being by nature in a state of complete 
‘darkness and ignorance, so far as relates to 
spiritual things, the first operation of the Ho- 
ly Ghost must necessarily be to remove the veil 
from off his heart and to enlighten his under- 
standing. ‘This, however, as we have already 
seen, is of little use, unless the affections be al- 
so reclaimed from the love of sin and converted 
to the love of God. The divine principle, ney- 


ertheless, may exist in the heart, even when the 


98 


favoured possessor of it least suspects its pre- 
sence and is almost ready to despair from his 
supposed deficiency in it. The striking differ- 
ence between the character of these humble, 
dejected, self-condemning, believers, and the _ 
eharacter of those unhappy men, who know the : 
truth only to hate and reject it, has been-suf- 

- ficiently shown. Whatever degree of reluc- 
tance a man may feel in the performance of his - 
duty, yet, ifhe do perform it, if he daily pray 
and strive against this reluctance, if, instead of 
hatred towards the Son of God, he at tinisabe 
sensible of tender grief from the consciousness 
of his own obduracy and ingratitude; he may 
depend upon if, that these emotions, so opposite 
to the hellish temper of an unrenewed heart, 
are the first-fruits of that Spirit, whose pecu- 
liar office it is to guide the Christian into all 
truth, 


Wicked men indeed have sometimes good 


wishes, Even Balaam, when obstinately re-— 


99 

sisting the counsel of the Most High, could yet 
exclaim, May I die the death of the righteous, 
and may my latter end be like his ! But unhap- 
_pily these wishes only spring up occasionally. 
There is nothing of that abiding sense of God’s 
presence, that restless desire of a greater dé- 
gree of communion with him, which every real 
Christian is wont (o experience. In the un- 
converted, good impressions, however lively at 
first, soon wear off; and they gradually return 
to their former habits of irreligion ; but, in the 
children of God, such impressions perpetually 
acquire fresh vigour and energy; they grow 
“with their growth, and strengthen with their 
‘strength, until they imperceptibly become the 
“main spring of every thought and action. 

‘és'The foulest hearts,” says Bishop Hall, 
«« do sometimes entertain good motions ; like 
as, on the contrary, the holiest souls give way 
sometimes to the suggestions of evil. ‘The 


flashes of lightning may be discerned in the 


400 
darkest prisons: but, if good thoughts look 
into a wicked heart, they stay not there 5 
as those that like not their lodging, they 
are soon gone. Hardly any thing distin- — 
guishes betwixt good and evil, but eontinu- 
ance. ‘The light, that shines into a holy heart, 
is constant, like that of the sun, which keeps 
due times, and varies not his course for any of 


these sublunary oecasions.”’* 


The Holy Spirit, then, having enlightened 
the understanding, proceeds, in the next place, 
to renovate the will and the affections. At first, 
the change in the inclinations is scarcely to be 
perceived. Oppressed with a load of superin- — 
cumbent corruptions, the spark of divine life 
seems at times almost to approach to utter ex- 
tinction. But not one word or one tittle of all 
God’s promises can fail. The smoking. flax 
will gradually burst out into a clear flame, 


pees CC Ct 


* Hall’s Works, p. 1058. 


101 


when fanned by the gentle breezes of the Holy 
Spirit. A greater conformity will soon take 
place between the will of the Christian, and the 
will of his God. Even should this comfort be 
for a season denied, sill he is under the pro- 
tection of his Lord; who views with a loving 
pity the struggle in his heart, and who will 
doubtless, xs soon as it shall be expedient for 
him, cause the light of his countenance to shine 
wpon him. Meanwhile all things work to- 
gether for his good; and, if his inclinations be 
deficient in fervency, his conscience acquires 
fresh tenderness and more acute discernment. 
~The difficulty, which he finds in loving what he 
ought to love, gives him deeper views of sin 

and convinces him more effectually of his own 
| utter inability. He now discovers, and he- 
lieves, on the sure ground of actual exper lence, 
that in himsel Uf dwelleth no good thing, and that 
all his sufficiency is of God. So far from being 
faithful to grace, as some vainly talk, he daily 


I 


402 
sees more and more of his unfaithfulness ; and, 
though he strives under the influence of the 
Holy Spirit to work out his salvation, yet he is 
eonstrained to ackuowledge that it is God who 


seorketh in him both to will and to do. , 


Since Seripture represents man in his natu- 
ral state as dead in trespasses and sin; it will 
follow, unless the whole propriety of the meta-. 
phor be destroyed, that he is totally unable, by 
any inherent strength of his own, to raise him- 
selfup to the life of righteousness. This fig- 
urative resurrection from the dead is the same, . 
as what is sometimes termed, by a different 
metaphor," ‘regeneration or a new birth. It is 
occasionally likewise represented as @ new ere- 

ation. All which images plainly teach us, both 
ihat a very essential change must take place in 
ihe moral constitution in order to a man’s be- 
ing . Christian, and that that change must he 


effected by some extrinsic power. 


103 


“ To be born again implies, that, as no man 
can bestow upon himself a natural being— 
‘Therefore the Scripture chooses to express this 
new birth by such terms as import in us an ut- 
fer impossibility and impotency to effect it by 
our own power. It is called the quickening 
the dead ; you hath he quickened, says the Apos- 
tle, who were dead in trespasses and sins. 
Look, how impossible it is for a dead man, that 
is shut down under the bars of the grave, that is 
crumbled away into dust and ashes, to pick up 
every scattered dust and to form them again 
into the same members : look, how impossible 
it is for him to breathe without a soul, or to 
breathe that soul into himself. Alike impossi- 
ble is it for a natural man, who hath lain ma- 
ny years in the death of sin, to shake off from 
himself that spiritual death, or to breathe into 
himself that spiritual and heavenly life that 
may make him a living soul before God.* 

* Bishop Hopkins’s Works, p. 531. 


404 


Most assuredly «for this great work God 
only is equal ; it is not in our power to regeit- 
erate ourselves: for we are not born of blood, 
nor of the. will of the flesh, nor of ‘the will of 
man, that is, not of any natural ereated strength, 
but of God.”’* He it is, who maketh us new 
creatures. By his Holy Spirit, not by any 
sirengih of our own, the divine principle of 
love, without which no man ean live well, is 


diffused through our hearts.+ 


So great a change, however, is not effected 
without much opposition on the part of those 


who are the subjects of it nor without a vehe- 


ment exercise of that determined resolution, 


which. God alone can confer upon them. | « Af- 


ter many strugglings and conflicts with their 


; 


} w 
* Bishop Wilkins on prayer, chap. xvii. 
+ * Charitas Dei; sine qua nemo bene vivit, diffunditur 
in cordibus nostris, non a nobis, sed per Spiritum Sanctum 


uidatus est nobis.” . Augustin. Epist. 10%. 
q s P 


4+ 


™ - ete tae ee 
~ Se ee ae eee ee ee ee 


* 


ei i 


405 


lusts and the strong bias of evil habits,” as it 
is rightly ebserved by Abp. Tillotson, <¢ this 
resclution assisted by the grace of God, does 
effectually prevail and make a real change 
both in the temper of their minds and in the 
course of their lives: and when that is done, 


and not before, they are said to be regenerate.”?* 


Well then might St. Austin exclaim, « To 
justify a sinner, to new create him from a 
wicked person to a righteous man, is a greater 
act, than te make such a new heaven and earth 
as is already made.”} Well might the pious 
founders of cur Church maintain that, “the 
more regeneration is hid from our understand- 
ing, the more it ought to move all men te 
wonder at the seeret and mighty werking of 
God’s Holy Spirit, which is within us. For it 


* Tillotson’s Serm. on Gal. yi. 13. 


¥ Cited in Homily for Rogat, Week. part é 
b 2 


106 
4s the Holy Ghost, and no other thing, that 
doth quicken the minds of men, stirring up 
good and godly motions in their hearts, which 
are agreeable to the will and commandment of 
God, such as otherwise of their own crooked 
and perverse nature they should never have. 
That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. As 
who should say, man of his own nature is 
fleshly and earnal, corrupt and naught, sinfal 
and disobedient to God, without any spark of 
goodness in him, without any virtuous or godly 
motion, only given to evil thoughts and wicked 
deeds’’—yet ‘such is the power of the Holy 
Ghost to regenerate men, and as it were te 
bring them forth anew, that they shall be 
nothing like the men that they were before. 


re 


ns 

* Homily for Whitsunday, parti. We may observe, 
that in this passage our venerable reformers, in exact. 
accordance with the preceding citations from Abp. Tillot- — 


son and Bps. Hopkins and Wilkins, clearly speak of re~ — 


a 


467 


The reason why our Lord insists so much 


upon the absolute necessity of that change of 


, 


generation as taking place in adult subjects; and there- 
fore do not attach it necessarily, and in the way of cause 
and effect, to baptism. Analogous to it, is the declaration 
in the catechism, that the two sacraments are only gen- 
erally necessary to salvation. For, since our Lord asserts 
that regeneration is absolutely necessary to salvation, if 
our reformers had believed, that the inward spiritual 
grace was altogether inseparable from the outward visible 
sign, they must have maintained that baptism was not 
merely generally, but indispensably, necessary to our en- 
tering into the kingdom of heaven. ‘hese explanatory 
declarations of their sentiments in the homilies and cate- - 
chism will teach us, how we ought to understand the 
phraseology of the baptismal service. Sacramental re- 
generation is there hoped, in the judgment of charity, to 
be real regeneration ; just as St. Paul, in his epistles, is 
wont to addressa whole church, as if every one of its 
members were iudisputable heirs of salvation; but, whe- 
ther the subjects of baptism have really been renewed by 
the Holy Spirit, must be determined by their future con- 


duct. In fact, if we maintain that regeneration is so 


408 
the heart usually denominated regeneration,*# 
appears to be simply this; without such change 
we should labour under a sort of natural unfit- 
ness to enter into the kingdom of heacen. No 
man can be happy in the company of those, 
whose views and pursuits are totally dissimilar 
to his own. They must either conform to 
him, or he to them. before they will be abie to 


associate together. He, that is uneasy in the 


inseparable from baptism, that every baptized person is 
regenerate, and that every unbaptized person is unregen- 
erate ; we shall be compelled to maintain that the devout 
Cornelius was absolutely in the gall of bitterness until he 
was baptized, while the baptized sorcerer Simon was a 
truly regenerate Christian, notwithstanding he is declared 
by Peter to have neither lot nor part in the Holy Spirit. 
Ifthe reader wish to see the doctrine of regeneration 
clearly statedand the phraseology of the baptismal ser- 
vice ably explained, he would do well to peruse with at- 
tention four sermons by Bp. Hopkins, on John iii. &. 


They form a complete treatise on the subject. 


* John iii. 1—21. 


> 


109 


presence of the pious upon earth, ean never 
derive any pleasure from spending an eternity 
with them. The joys of heaven are described 
as purely spiritual ; so much so, that even the 
very best of men, in their present imperfeet 
state, are unable fully to eomprehend them. 
An intimate communion with God, an intense 
degree of devotion, a peace of mind which 
passeth all understanding, an entire coinci- 
dence of their will with the will of God, a 
never-ceasing round of praise and thanksgiy- 
ing are proposed to the servants of Christ, 
as their stimulus here and their portion here- 
after. But, if'a man have no relish fer any 
of these enjoyments, even Paradise itself 
would be no Paradise to him. What excited 
the highest pleasure in others, would produce 
in him no ether sensations than those of weari- 
ness and disgust. His soul. would sicken at 
the view of that happiness, which he was inea- 
pable of tasting; and, like the fabulous Tan- 


- talus, he would starve in the midst of plenty, 


410° 


ca 


On these grounds it is, that Bishop Reynolds 

somewhere remarks, -with no less beauty than 
justice, that the man, who is weary of a single 

sabbath upon earth, can never deriye any sat- 

isfaction from the observance of a perpetual 

sabbath in heaven. Every faculty of the soul 
must receive anew tendeney; the image of 
Satan must be gradually eradicated; and the 

- image of God must be planted in its stead 5 or 

we can never expect to enter into the kingdom 
of Christ. 


It may perhaps be asked, whe then ean be 
saved? Jor where is the man whose will is in 
so perfect a state of conformity with the will of 
God, as to experience no inward resistance, 10 
internal struggles, when obeying the divine 
commandments? Where is the person, who 
possesseth such a degree of heavenly minded- 
ness, as always to prefer the prospects of hap- 
piness in another world to the certainty of 


present gratification in this ¢ 


414 


T readily answer, that no such eharacier ex- 
-4sts on this side of the grave; nor are we to ex- 
peet that any such ever will. The deeper in- 
sight a man-acquires into” his own heart, the 
more deeply will he be convinced of his invete- 
rate corrupiion and manifold infirmities; the 
more bitterly will he bewail his sins, and lament 
the perverseness of his will and affections. 
ifere we are not to expect any thing more, than 
the beginning of the spiritual life; the conswm- 
mation and perfection of it is reserved for a 
richer soil and a more genial climate. The 
taint of original sin remains ‘even «© in them 
that are regenerated.”* The spirit indeed 
may be willing, but the flesh is weak. In the 
bosom of every true Christian, there is a never- 
ceasing conflict between two principles diamet- 
rically opposite to each other. His renewed 
heart wills to serve God, but his corrupt na- 


ture resists, and fights against his better incli- 


a eee 


©. Ast ee. 


412 


nations. Such will necessarily be his eontlis 
tion, so long as he remains a member of the 
ehurch militant. Nothing will terminate the 
warfare, but a translation into the church tri-, 


umphant.* 


St. Paul has left us upon record, for the edi- 
fication of Christians in all ages, a very lively 
and affecting description of this contest between 
grace and nature. That which 1 do, I allow 
not: for what I would, that do I not; but 
what I hate, that do I. If then I do that 
which I would not, I consent unto the law, that 
it is good. Now then, it is no more lithat do 
it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know 
that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good 


thing : for to will is present with me 5 but how 


1 


* «© Quamdiu vivis, peccatum necesse est esse in mem- 
ris tuis. Saltem illi regnum auferatur, non fiat quod ju- 


bet”? Aug. in Johan. Tract. 41. 


413 
to perform that whichis good I find not. For 
the Sood that would, Edo not; but the evil 
which I would not, that Ido. Now, if Ido 
that I would not, it is no more T that do it, but 
sin that dwelleth in me. T jind then a law 
that, when Twould do good, evil is present with 
me. Hor I delight in the law of God after the 
inward man: but I see another law in my men- 
bers, warring against the law of my mind, and 
bringing me into caplivity to the law of sin 
which is in my members. O wretched man 
that Tam! who shall deliver me from the body 
of this death? I thank God through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. So then, with the mind I 
myself serve the law of God, bul with the flesh 


the law of sin.* 


4 
: , . 
* Rom. vii. 15. “Cum corpus e terra, et spiritum pos- 


sideamus e ceelo, ipsi terra et celum sumus ; et in utroque, » 
id est, et corpore et spiritu, ut Det voluntas fiat, oramus. 


M 


414 


his internal struggle, so far from being ar 
argument against a renewed will, is the very 
test, which most decisively proves that it is re- 
newed. While a man yields himself a willing 
slaye to Satan, or while he conceals a total 
ignorance of his own heart under a decorous 
exterior ; he ‘feels nothing of the contest be- 
tween erace and nature, which is so grievous 
a burden to every real Christian. He has no 
conception of that restlessness and uneasiness 
of mind, so feelingly described by the great 
apustle of the Gentiles. Having never ex- 
perienced the violent resistance which our de- 


praved hearts make to the will of Ged, he has 


‘ ra 
4 ei 
Est enim inter carnem et spiritum colluctatio, et discor- 
dantibus adversus se invicem quotidiana congressio; ut 
non gue volumus ipsa faciamus. Dum spiritus celestia 
et divina querit, caro terrena et secularia concupiscit : et 
ideo petimus impense inter duo ista, ope et auxilio Dei 
concordiam fieri: ut, dum et in spiritu et in carne volun- 
tas Dei geritur, que per eum renata est anima servetur.” 


? 
(Cyprian. de Orat. Domin. 


415 


no idea of the difieulty of repentance and 
amendment ; ner does he believe that there is 
any need of divine influence to enable him to 
turn from the evil of his ways. Hence he 
veadily adopts the Pelagian notion, that re- 
pentance is always in his own pewer; and 
scoffs at the sober decision of our church, 
*‘ that the condition of man is such, that he 
eannot turn and prepare himself by his own 
natural strength, and good works, to faith and 
ealling upon God.”* But, as soon as he at- 
tempts the arduous task of a real and vital re- 
formation, a reformation which is not confined 
to bare external decorum, but which affeets 
even the very inmost thoughts ef the heart ; 
he then begins to find his weakness and ina- 
bility, and is foreed at length by repeated lap- 
ses to acknowledge that all his sufficiency is 
of God. Along with this conviction, he now 
for the first time, experiences ‘the internal 


# Art. x, 


£46 


Christian conflict ; he now perceives the full 
meaning of St. Paul’s confession; and, like 
him, is ready to exclaim, 0 wretched man that I 
am! who shall deliver me from the body of this 
death? Lethim not, however, be discouraged, 
still less despair, on account of the opposition, 
which corrupt nature makes to the influences 
of the Holy Spirit. Every Christian, what- 
ever may be his rank in life or his progress in 
piety, has had the same enemy te contend with. 
Let him recollect the promise, My grace is suf- 
Jicient for thee ; nor let him doubt, but that he, 
which redeemed Jacob from all evil, is equally 
ready to assist all who find their need of a 
Saviour. . Strengthen ye the weak hands, and 
conjirm the feeble knees; say to them, that are 
of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: be- 
hold, your God will come with vengeance, even 
God with a recompense ; he will come and save 


you.* 


~ 


* Isaiah xxxy. 3. 


117 


Since probably few Christians of the present 
day will venture to claim even an equality with 
St. Paulin point of holiness, much less a supe~ 
riority over him, we may derive from his mem- 
orable confession another important truth : that ; 
it is vain for man to dream of attaining to per- 
fection in this world. Our very best deeds 
will ever be mingled with sin; our very best 
wishes will ever be distracted with reluctance ; 
and our very best services will ever partake 
largely of corruption. Though some may 
strangely pervert the meaning of Scripture 
and falsely boast of an imaginary perfection, 
the humble disciple, who by bitter experience 
has known the plague of his own heart, cannot 


be thus Jamentably deluded.* Free indeed 


* 1 John iii. 9.  Hec hominibus,” says St. Jerome,  so- 
. . . ¢ . 
la perfectio, si imperfectos se esse noverint.? And St. 


Austin, * Nulla remansit infirmitas? Si non remansisset, 
M 2 


418 


every one, that is born of God, must be from 
a resolute habit of sin, and from a predeter- 
mined purpose of enjoying its pleasures 
whenever they occur. But who shall cleanse 
himself from all his secret faults? Who is able 
to purify himself from offence in thought, in 
word, and in deed? Who shall dare to pro- 
nounce himself clear from the culpability of 
omission, as well as from the presumptuousness 


of commission? Jf we say that we have ne 


sine peccato hic viveremus. Quis autem audeat hoc di- 
cere, nisi superbus ? nisi misericordia liberatoris indig- 
nus? nisi qui serpsum vult decipere, et in quo veritas non 
est?’ Lcannot refrain from observing, that I have more 
than once met with writers, who no less roundly than un- 
accountably have asserted that the Calvinists hold the 
doctrine of sinless perfection in those whom they denominate 
the elect. The Calvinists hold no such doctrine, however | 
unwarrantable may be their speculations on the abstruse 


points of predestination and reprobation, © 


1419 


sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not 
in us.* x 


Respecting the proper mode of carrying on 
the internal warfare of grace against nature, 
yery excellent is the advice of Bp. Hall. 
«¢ There are two men,” says he “ in every re- 
generate breast, the old and the new ; and of 
these, as they are ever plotting against each 
, other, we must take the better side, and labour 
that the new man by being more wise in God 
may outstrip the old. And how shall that be 
done? If we would dispossess the strong man 
that keeps the house, our Saviour bids us bring 
in a stronger than he; and, if we would overs 
reach the subtilty of the old man, yea the 
old serpent, bring in a stronger than he, even 


the Spirit of God, the God of wisdom,”’} 


* 1 Johni. 8. + Bp. Hall’s Works, p. 469, 


120 


Nor is this observation excellent only: in the 
way of advice; it affords also to every man a’ 
very useful test of his regeneracy. If he find 
that two men are perpetually at war. within 
him, and that the one gradually prevails over 
the other ; he has no reason to doubt of the 
reality of his being a child of God, though 
he may never have felt any of those sudden 
and violent pangs of conscience which some 
appear erroneously to esteem. the very essen- 
tiais of regeneration. But, on the other hand, 
if he view his beloved self with a fond com- 
placeney, and if he be totally - unacquainted 
with the never-ceasing inward warfare of a 
Christian; he thea has but too suflicient 
grounds to be very doubtful of the goodness 
of his state. «There are two men in every ve- 
generate breast.” Where the workings of one 
alone are pereeptible, and where consequently 
there is no struggle, is it possible then, if Bp. 
Hall be a sound expositor, ‘that the renewing 
influence of the Holy Spirit can ever haye been 


really experienced ? 


121 


“Upon the whole, we may conclude that, in 
the regenerate, the vicious inclinations of cor- 
rupt nature are not so much eradicated, as 
mortified and subdued. A new principle is in- 
stilled into the heart, diametrically opposite to 
the affections of the flesh, and waging an eter- 
nal war against them. It is vain to expect in 
this world, that duty will ever be entirely un- 
attended with pain. The carnal mind is enmity 
against God, for it is not subject to the Law 
of God, neither indeed can be.* As a rem- 
nant of the idolatrous Canaanites was left in 
the midst of the children of Israel, to be a 
thorn in their sides and a perpetual snare to . 
them ;} so are the evil affections of a Christian 
aconsiant source of trouble and vexation to 
him. Yet these lusts of the flesh are kept in 


a state of abject slavery to their new master ; 


* Rom. viii: 7. | + Judg. ii, 2. 


122 


and although they may be disposed oecasion-— 


ally to rebel, and, in fact, do never cordially — 


submit to the yoke imposed upon them, still 


are they daily constrained to bow beneath it, — 


still are they daily losing some portion of their. 


original strength and influence. At times, in- 
deed, as every believer knows by woful ex- 
perience, the house of Saul will appear to pre- 
vail against the house of David. Long and 
tedious is the war between them, a war which 
ean only terminate with the extinction of one 
of the parties ; yet in the course of this spirit- 
ual struggle, it will be found that David waxes 
stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul 
weaker and weaker.* Even natural eauses 
will contribute their mite of co-operation 
with the Spirit of grace. What at first was 


indeseribably irksome, will through habit gra- | 


dually become tolerable, if not palatable, even 


= 


* 2Sam. iii, 1. 


128 ‘ 


te out natural inclinations ; while the hope of'4 
speedy victory and a glorious recompense will 
alleviate the hardships of the Christian war- 
fare. Meanwhile the soul, through the assist- 
ance of the blessed Spirit, will be perpetually 
advancing in the paths of holiness, and perpetu- 
ally discovering new beauty, an ‘experiencing 
fresh pleasures in them. A delightful sense 
of security, a calm reliance upon: the protec- 
tion of God, and a consciousness of possessing 
an interest in the merits of the Saviour, will 
smooth the rn¢ged path of duty, and make the 
rough places plain. The communion of saints, 
that golden though invisible chain which forms’ 
the connexion between the higher andthe nether 
worlds, affords a never failing souree of happi- 
ness to the believer. Ifa pagan could exult in 
the uncertain prospect of rejoining his friends 


in the realms of bliss,* what shall we say of | 


* Cicer. somn. Scip. 


124 


the eertain view of futurity held ‘out to ‘the 
Christian? . Ina few, a very few years, death 
will be. swallowed up in victory, the wicked 
will cease from troubling, and the weary will 
be atrest. Those associates, in whom he most 
delighted while. upon earth, will scen rejoin 
him, pure, perfect, and sinless in heaven. He 
is conscious that at present there is a some- 
thing in his nature, a bitter root of perverse- 
ness and corruption, which prevents him from 
attaining to that degree of holiness, that en- 
tire communion with God, beneath which his 
soul is unable to rest satisfied. He delights in 
the law of God after the inward man, but he 
sees another law in his members warring 
against the law of his mind.* Hence arises a 
wish to guit this troublesome world and all its 
vanities: a desire to be with Christ, which is 


‘as 


* Rom. vii. 22. 


jar better.* Yet is this wish unalloyed with 
discontent. The Christian can humbly resign 
himself, whether living or dying, to the good 


* Did we feel the vanity of the world as practically, as 
we are ready to allow it theoretically, this wish would 
always be predominant in our hearts, though tempered, 
no doubt, with resignation to the will of heaven, and with 
humble gratitude for our deliverance from the merited 
penalties of sin. Paulisper te crede subduci in montis 
ardui verticem celsiorem, speculari inde rerum infra te 
jacentium facies; et oculis in diversa porrectis, ipse a 
terrenis contactibus liber, fluctuantis mundi turbines 
intuere. Jam seculi et ipse misereberis; tuique admo- 
nitus, et plus in Deum gratus, majore letitia quod eva- 
seris gratulaberis. Cerne tu itinera latronibus clausa, . 
maria obsessa predonibus, cruento horrore castrorum 
bella ubique divisa: madet orbis mutuo sanguine; et 
homicidium cum admittunt singuli, crimen est; virtus 
vocatur cum publice geritur; impunitatem sceleribus 
acquirit, non innocentiz ratio, sed sevitize magnitudo.” 
Cyprian. ad. Donat. The sum and substance of practical 
wisdom is condensed in this short apophthegm, The 


Jashion of this world passeth away. 
N 


126 


pleasure of his heavenly Father, who knows, 
infinitely better than himself, what is good and 
proper for him. Thus, secure under the pro- 
tection of his God, and firmly relying on the 
_moerits of his Saviour, he calmly awaits the 
hour of his dissolution; when he shall be de- 
livered from the bondage of corruption into the 
glorious liberty of the sons of God, when tears 
shall be wiped away from every eye, and when 
the sorrows of time shall give place to the joys 
of eternity. 


©HAPTER V. 


Fhe Influence of the Holy Spirit upon the 
| _ Affections. | 


Wuits the blessed Spirit of God is employed 
in illuminating the understandings, and in con- 
verting the wills of his servants, he is also 
working a gradual change in their affections. 
He weans them from the gross and terrestrial 
objects of sense, he mortifies the works of the 
flesh, and he draws up their minds to high and 


heavenly things.¥ He teaches them not 


A BLO A 


* Art. xvil* 


428 
merely theoretically, but experimentally, the 
infinite disproportion between the pleasures of 
this world and the joy which is reserved for 
the faithful at the right hand of God. By 
slow and almost imperceptible degrees, a sur- 
prising change takes place within them. ‘They 
no longer feel any relish for those vanities, 
which the slaves of dissipation esteem abso- 
iutely necessary for their happiness ; and what 
at first was resigned upon prineiples of ‘duty 
and conscience, though with no small relue- 
iance, now ceases to excite a single wish, and 
is considered with indifference or even aver: 
sion.* | 


A LTE EL ENE EES EE EA OR AAC ELE LAE 


x 


U 
* « By this new nature the very natural motion of the 


soul, so taken, is obedience to God, and walking in the 
paths of righteousness ; it can no more live in the habit 
and ways of sin, than aman can live under water. Sin is 
not the Christian’s element ; it is too gross for his renewed 


soul, as the water is for his body. He may fall into it, 


429 


The life of Christ is the beautiful exemplar, 
which every man under the guidance of the Holy 
Spirit endeavours to imitate... He finds himself 
uneasy in the society of those, whose daily con- 
versation is the very reverse of that bright pat- 
tern, which was once, and only once, exhibited. 
before the eyes of sinful mortality ; and he flies 
with delight to companions, whose habits and 


Revove 5 vd 


but he cannot breathe in it; cannot take delight and con- 
tinue to live init: but his delight is in the law of the 
Lord. That is the walk, that his soul refreshes itself in; 
he loves it entirely, and loves it most, when it most crosses 
the remainders of corruption that are in him; he bends 
the strength of his soul to please God, and aims wholly 
at that. It takes up his thoughts early and late; he hath 
no other purpose in his being and living: but only to 
honour his Lord, that is, to live to righteousness. He 
doth not make a by-work of it, a study for his spare hours ; 
no, itis his main business, his all.” Abp. Leighton’s 


Works, vol. 1. p. 402. 
N 2 


130 


views are more congenial with his own. Stilt, 
whenever there isevena faint hope only of ef- 
fecting a reformation, he seeks not morosely to 
shun the presence of the thoughtless and the 
dissipated.* Here his business is to wateh for 
opportunities of usefulness; te avoid the. ap- 
pearance of unnecessary rigour ; and to diffuse 
the practice of holiness, rather by occasional 


hints and general remarks, than by petulant 


reproofand pointed allusion. We are all, how- 


ever absurd it may be, more subject to the in- 


fluence of pride and self-conceit, than perhaps. 


of any other species of mental criminality. 
it is the particular aim of Christianity to era- 
dicate this master passion of the soul 3 and all, 
*% 6Omwrev -waAciwy #0 0S, Woav KEPOOS. — Kerous 
pubytas eay Qianss KMeLG Tol ove errs MaeArov Tous 
AOLMOTEPIUG CF MpmoTHTL UmeTMTTE. Ov recat 77 
_autn epumaurtpw begumeverat, — Tors magobuzuous 
2moeoxsts Tave, Deavijos yivou ws odis ev CHAT, 
Mees eenepaios avss meeictepm,  Ignat, Epist. ad Poly- 


131 


who have had the least experience of thet 
own hearts, will readily allow the difficulty of 
the work. Ifsuch be the confession of every 
humble, self-denying believer, with what. s. — 
fremendous sway must the sia of pride rule in 
the breasts of the carnal and worldly-minded ! 
Men never much relish the being driven to 
their duty. Personal censure, and ill-timed ad- 
vice, always convey an idea of superiority, and 
as such will always give offence. Impressed 
with the truth of these remarks, the Christian 
will endeavour to unite prudence with his zeal. 
He will strive rather to lead men inte the paths 
ef salvation, than to compel them to come in. | 
Though ever upon the watch to do good, he 
will temper his watchfulness with judgment. 
He will study to remove all appearance of de- 
- sign and premeditation from what he says. 
“He will seek to coneiliate the affections of 
those with whom he converses. He will reso- 
lutely turn aside from every temptation to sar- 


casi and ridicule, as well knowing that the ap- _ 


132. . 


plause, which might perhays be procured. by 
his wit, would be but a poor recompense for 
the diminution, probably the loss, of his influ- 
ence ever an immortal soul. He will strive, 
in short, to inculcate the maxis of his religion 
by example, as well as by precept. With 
these views, and these resolutions, he will enter 
inte company, and thus convert even an ordina- 
ry visit intoa plan for promoting the glory of 
Godt Meee Hin eH pin ts tae a Rae golineatedies ape 


‘Phe invitation, then, of Christ constitutes 
the principal study of those, who are influenced 
by the Hoty Ghost. Whatsoever action they 
are about te perform, their first question’ is, 
whether Christ would have performed it, had 
he been in their situation: and it is their cone» 
stant endeavour to regulate, not only their: 
words, but their very thoughts, in a way re- 
sen:bling that, in which they have reason te con-- 
eeive that he regulated: his. Their ordinary’ 


employments, their amusements, their choice’ 


4 
——— 


See eC 


Se, 


ee a 


133 

of friends, nay even the most common transac- 
tions of their lives, will be brought to the same 
test. They contemplate the heavenly meek- 
ness of Christ: aud labour to transfuse his 
spirit into their own hearts. ‘They view his 
immaculate purity ; and strive with yet ereater 
earnestness to put off the old man with his lusts. 
They behold his wonderful and disinterested 
love for mankind, displayed in a life of active 
benevolence and in a death full of pain and tor- 
ment; they hear him praying for his murder- 
ers, and see him anxiously concerned for the 
welfare of his friends, even when the prospect 
of his own bitter sufferings was directly before 
his eyes: and, full of these thoughts, they 
learn to abhor the narrow spirit of selfishness, 
and feel their souls alive both to the temporal 
and the eternal interests of all their brethren. 
They are taught by his blessed example to love 
their enemies, to bless those that haie them, 
and to pray for those that despitefully use them 
and persecute them. 


134 


-'Phus endeavouring to tread in the steps of 
their divine master, they gradually acquire a 
greater relish for heavenly enjoyments, and 
find themselves elevated above the fleeting 
pleasures of this transitory world. ‘The amiable — 
mildness and sweet serenity of the new disposi- 
tion, which has been implanted in themis so 
conspicuous, that it cannot but be. perceived 
even by those whose hearts are unaffected. . It 
is true, that the man, who is naturally of. a 
harsh and rugged temper, will never attain to 
the gentleness of those Christians, whose af- 
fections have been originally cast in a different 
and more beautiful mould. Something of the 
old Jeaven will yet remain, nor ean it ever be to- 
tally removed ‘except by the hand of death. 
Yet how pleasing is it to behold asperiiies grad-_ 
ually worn away, and, in direct opposition. to 
the ordinary course of mere nature, a mild and 
placid old age succeeding to a morose and _ir- 
vitable manhood. Sueh will ever be the influ- 


enee of real Christianity upon all the more un- 


438 


_ kindly passions of the human soul. Avaries 


will become liberality; uncleanness, purity ; 


and selfishness, a generous desire of promoting 


the happiness of all mankind. Old things are 
| passed away; behold all things are become new. 
| 
«© Give me,” says the eloquent Lactantius, «a 
man of a passionate, abusive, headstrong, dis-. 
position; with’a few only of the words of Ged, 
| I will make him gentle as. a lamb. Give me 
a greedy, avaricious, tenacious, wretch ; and I 
will teach him to distribute his riches with a 
liberal and unsparing hand. Give me a cruel, 
and blood-ihirsty monster; and all his rage 
shall be changed into true benignity. Give me 
a.man addicted to injustice, full of ignorance, 
and immersed in wickedness ; he shall soon be- 
-eome just, prudent, and innocent. In the 
single laver of regeneration, he shall be clean- 
sed from all his malignity.”* 


* Lact. Inst. 1. ii. c. 26: 


486 


'¥s it possible for a change like this to be ef- 
feeted by mere human means? The laws of a 
country may indeed operate so far as to pre- 
vent open violence, but the Holy Spirit of God 
‘4s alone able to reach the soul. The artificial 
restraints of politeness are but a poor, a servile, 
wnitation of that true urbanity of manners, 
that constant desire of being serviceable to all 
around us, which nothing but the gospel of 
Christ ean teach. Pursue the man.of the 
‘world into his retirements ; and the Smiling 
msinuating courtier will frequently be meta- 
morphosed into the negligent and cruel hus- 
band, or the harsh and tyrannical master. His 
natural temper, now no longer under any re- 
straint, breaks out with redoubled violence, 
and vents itself on those who are unhappily 
subjected to his power. Widely different is 
the conduct of the Christian. Acting from a 
higher principle, and experiencing the chang- 
ing influence of the Spirit in the very inmost 
recesses of his heart, he is.uniform and con- 


437 
sistent at all times and in all places: He is 
the same character in private and in publie, 
at home and abroad. His politeness is the 
politeness ‘of the heart, not the spurious off- 
spring of a studied and elaborate refinement. 

- It is striking to observe the different effeets 
of religion and irreligion on persons, who are 


naturally of very opposite dispositions, = 


The originally mild and gentle Nero was 
soon corrupted by the charms of despotism and | 
ihe flattery of sycophants. Proceeding from 
bad to worse, he became ultimately one of the 
bloodiest tyrants upon record ; the terror and 
aversion of his enslaved subjects : the murder- 
er of his brothers, his wives, and his mother ; 
and the bitter perseeutor of Christianity. — sei 

“The impetuous, blood-thirsty, and unrclent. 
ing Saul, on the contrary, the furious opposer 
of the Gospel, and the determined enemy of 


0 


4355 
the Messiah, was changed into the amiable, 
fervent, and affectionate, apostle, ready to bear 
all hardships, and to submit to all the wayward 
and. petulant humors both of Jew and of Gen- 
tile, in order that he might gain some to ihé 
cause of his Lord. Read that beautiful speci- 
men of the conciliatory, his epistle to Philemon. 
We have great joy and consolation in thy love, 
because the bowels of the saints are refreshed 
by thee, brother. Wherefore, though I might 
be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that whieh 
is convenient, yet for love's sake I rather be- 
seech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, 
and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ, I 
beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have 
begotten in my bonds; which in time past was 
to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee 
and to me; whom I have sent again: thou 
therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels : 
whom I would have retained with me, that in 
thy stead he might have ministered unto me in 


the bonds of the gospel. But without thy mind 


439 


would I do nothing ; that thy benefit should noi 
be as it were af necessity, but willingly. Who 
‘would ever have suppesed, that this delicate 
and condescending address could. have pro- 
eeeded from the pen of the haughty and im- 
placable Saul? What an astonishing differ- 
ence between the mild yet dignified apostle, 
and the relentless bigot, breathing out threat- 
wings and slaughter against the disciples, 
making havoc - of the church, entering into 
every house, and haling men and women to 
prison ! 


~ Whence then could arise this difference, as 
singular as it is palpable, except from the op- 
‘posite influences of grace and nature, the one 
gradually correcting the malignant propensi- 
ties of the human heart, the other cherishing 
and fostering them? Had the black list of his 
‘future crimes been prophetically displayed be- 
fore the eyes of the youthful Nero, he would 


have been inclined to ask, in the words of 


44:0 


Hazael, Im Ia dog, that I should do these 
- things? Such often is the language of modern 
Infidelity ; but by their fruits are the disciples 
of Christ best distinguished from the daiiaai 


of the empire of Satan. 


The dignity of human nature; the eternal 
fitness of things; the moral sense ; the beauty 
of virtue, and the deformity of vice: the tea- 
dency of the heart te the one and its repug- 
nance to the other ; the superiority of philoso- 
phy over Christianity ; the charms of universal 
philanthropy and disinterested benevolence : 
have in our own memory been repeatedly and 
triumphantly brought forward. The God 
of Israel has been insulted to his face; his - 
statutes, and his ordinanees, have been ridicul- 
ed; the person of his Son has been vilified ; 
the operations of his Hely Spirit have been 
held up, as a mad enthusiasm ; and Christiani- 
ty has been tradueed, as the artful machina- 


tion of a designing impostor. We haye heen 


44d 


informed that, when philosophy should take 
the lead, a new and happier order of things 
would. succeed, to. the. present. , _Emancipated 
~ from the shackles of priesteraft, and tyranny, 
human reason would expand itself to its full 
growth, and infallibly conduct us to peace, to 
love, and to happiness. Religion,. the bugbear 
of deluded mortals, would hide her diminished 
head ;. prejudices would vanish. from off the 
face of the earth ; ear and despotism would 
become extinct with priests. and kings ; and 
the infinite perfeetibility of our nature Poo 
commence. Wars would. ben no more heard of; 
and mankind W ould be one large family, united 
by. the ties of a generous affection, and actuate 
ed by one common principle of mutual improye- 
ment. Thus conferring and receiving happi- 
ness, We should behold the vast globe itself 
| gradually. converted into a terrestrial paradise. 
a Such vain dreams of self-intitled philosophers 
jaye at length received a tremendous confuta- 
0 2 


142 
tion. We have seen realized, in these last 
days, the theory of a people without prince, 
without. priest, and without religion. We 
have seen the Gospel withdrawa from a nation, 
which had long either perverted its doctrines, 
or scoffed at its truths. We have seen that 
nation formally cast off the authority of Ged. 
We have seen her left to legislate, and frame 
fantastic eodes of natural religion, for her-- 
self. . It almost appears as if God had wisely. 
permitted the experiment to be tried, in order 
that man might be taken in his own folly, that 
the different effects of Christianity and of un-. 
belief might be placed in the most striking) 
point of view, and that the pride of Infidelity, 
might be for ever humbled in the dust. The~ 
religion of God, and the religion of Satan, 
have been ‘palpably contrasted together. They. 
have both equally promised the blessings of 
philanthropy, universal charity, and diffusive 
benevolence 3 they have both equally declared — 
the happiness of man te be their object ; and 


143 
they have both equally held out the prospect 


of ameliorating our nature, and of eradicating 


the seeds of ignorance, cruelty, and corruption. 


That the Gospel has most faithfully per- 
formed its promise, the comfortable experience 
of every sincere believer will joyfully acknow- 
ledge. Many indeed there are, who, while 
they bare the name of Christians, are totally 
unacquainted with the power of their divine 
religion. “But for their erimes the gospel is in 
no wise answerable. Christianity is with them 
a geographical, not a deseriptive, appellation. 
Tn strict propriety of speech, they are no more 
Christians, than the uncenyerted savages, who 
roam through the trackless deserts of Ameri- 
ea. The same reason equally serves to prove 
the truth of this assertion, and to show how 
little Christianity i is bound to answer for their 
misconduct. He is not a Jew which is one 
outwardli ys neither is that circumcision whicli 


ig outwar ad in the flesh : but hei is a Jew whiels 


Abt 


is one inwardly : and cireumeision is that of the 
heart, im the spirit, and not in the leiter 3 whose 


praise is not of mein, but of God.* 


We may now ask, in what manner has In- 
fidelity kept her promise to her deluded fol- 
jowers? She has opened the floodgates of li- 
@entiousness and immorality 5 she has deified 


just, pride, and blasphemy ; she has encouraged 


an indiseriminate cruelty and thirst of blood; 


she has trampled upon those rights of man, 
which she affected to vindicate ; and she has 
endeavoured to-tear away the only remaining 
comfort of the wretched, the hope of speedily 
exchanging the miseries of this life for the 
happiness of a better. Such are the fruits of 
high-vaulting infidelity. sik thalabamaplt 

The effect, indeed, which this sin of sins pro- 
duces upon the mind, is precisely the reverse of 


1d i 4 


* Rom. ii. 28. 


i aint” a teint ale 


445 


that change of heart, which in Seripture is 
metaphorically termed regeneration. An over- 
_ Weening pride, a hatred of all restraints, a con- 
tempt of those milder virtues in which Chris. 
_ Uanity so particularly delights, are the usual 
- characteristies of the anarch and the deist: 
_ Where did we ever behold the infidel exhibit- 
_ing any of those fruits of the Spirit, which are 
.the marks, the exclusive marks, of those that 
_have been born again? 'The levity, with which 
one of the most celebrated champions of deism 
_is said to haye met death, even if the account be 
true, is surely very different from the calm se- 
renity, the filial gratitude, and the trembling 
—eonfidence, of an expiring Christian. _When 
Mr. Hume was drawing near to that awful cri- 
‘sis, which, one would think, even the. best of 
‘men could not behold with indifference, haw 
did he employ the few last wecks of a fleeting - 
existence? He read Lucian, played at whist, 
and amused himself with anticipating the con- 
versation which was to take place between him- 
self and Charon! < Drollery,” says Bishop 


446 
Horne, ‘¢in such circumstances, is neither 


more nor less than 


. Moody madness, laughing wild. | 


_Amid severest, woe.. 


- Would we know the baneful and pestilential in- 
fluences of false philosophy on the human heart, 
we need only contemplate them in this most de- 
-plorable instanee of Mr. Hume.’ Such was 
the man, whom his biographer considéxs, 
‘both in his lifetime and since his death, as ap- 
proaching as nearly to the idea of a perfectly 
wise and virtuous man, as perhaps the nature 
of human frailty will permit!” 9 
Let us now view a Christian’s anticipation 
ef death. 

| Waich thou in all things, endure afflictions, 
do the work of an evangelist, make full proof 
of thy ministry. For Iam now ready to be 
offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 


147 


Thavce fought « good fight, I have Jinished my: 
course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there 
“is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, 
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give 
me at that day; and not-to me only, but unte 
all them that love his appearmg.* 


In this last address of the aged Paul to his 
beloved son Timothy, when the prospect of a° 
speedy dissolution’ was full before him, the 
marks of a regenerate and sanetified believer 
must he evident even to the most careless ob- 
server. While the Apostle joyfully anticipates 
‘the promised reward, and looks forward with 
“eagerness to that happy day, when corruptible 

shall put on incorruption, and when mortal 
shall put on immortality, his affectionate heart 
still yearns towards those friends whom he is 
about to leave behind him, and almost his last 


thoughts are employed in pointing out the most 


meee een LLL OL LOTTE: 
* 2 Tim. iv. 5, 


448 


effectual means of diffusing Christian know- 
ledge. 


‘Infidelity has of Jate years displayed a zeal 
in propagating her sentiments, but little inferi- 
or to that of primitive Christianity : yet, in the 
midst of her labours, she has shown, in a most 
striking manner, the difference of the spirit, 
with which the regenerate and the unregenerate 
are actuated. 


The martyr Stephen, in imitation of bis 
blessed Lord, spent his last breath in jntoxtedl 
ing for his murderers. Prayers were the sole 
arms of the church of Christ, agreeably to his 
express prohibition of attempting to diffuse the 
gospel by violence; and never did the papists 
err more completely, than when they called in 


the secular arm. 


But what is the treatment, which all the op- 
ponents of Infidelity must expect, notwithstand- 


449 


ing her perpetual appeal to toleration, candour 
liberality, and humanity? One of her warmest 
adherents desired only «to die on a heap of 
Christians immolated at his feet ;? Voliaire 
proposed, in ease his antichristian plan should 
succeed, to strangle the last Jesuit with the 
bowels of the last Jansenist; a regal apostate 
avowed, that Infidelity could never be estab- 
lished, except by the exertion of a superior 

foree; and d’Alembert expressed a wish not 
unworthy even of a Nero, a wish to see a whole 

nation exterminated, simply because they pro- 

fessed the Christian religion. * 


_ The meek and submissive spirit of regenera- 
tion prompted the apostle to forbid, even upon 
pain of damnation, all resistance to the lawfully _ 
constituted powers of government. He rightly 
judged, that self-vindication was inconsistent 
with the charaeter of him, who has been born 


again ; of him, who expects his portion, not in 
ES PERT OPE ATE Oe AR Reggina 


* Barruel, Mem. of Jacobinism. 
, P - 


150. 


this world, but in the next. His precepts were 
faithfully obeyed by the primitive Christians 5 
and there is not a single instance upon record 
of any resistance being made even to the blood- 


iest persecutions of the heathen emperors. 


This humility and gentleness, Infidelity treats 
with the most sovereign contempt ; she spurns 
at the idea of a meek and contented obedience ; 
and she values not the blessing of a quiet spirit. 
Unlike that evangelical charity, which seeketh 
not her own, she clamor ously demands her 

ights, and preaches the legality of open insur- 
rection and rebellion. The gospel reverently 
looks up to God, as the sole fountain of power, 
poth civil and ecelesiastical ; but Infidelity 
proudly | scoffs at the degrading sentiment, and 
confers upon the populace. the prerogative ‘of 


J ehovah. 


T have dwelt the more largely upon the spirit 
of Infidelity, in order that it might form the 


more striking contrast to that of a regenerate 


151 
Christian under the sanctifying influence of the 
Holy Spirit. In a painting, light appears more 
vivid from being placed in the vicinity of dark- 
ness; and beauty possesses a tenfold degree of 
attraction in the neighbourhood of deformity. 
Itis impossible to avoid seeing the difference 
between the real believer, and the man who 
makes this world his god. Setting aside all 
descripancies of opinion, who is there, that 
does not perceive the wonderful dissimilarity 
between the character of Paul, and that ofa 
Hume or a Voltaire? Who ean avoid acknow- 
ledging that some important change must have 
taken place in the one, of which the others 
were totally ignorant? There was atime when 
the great apostle of the gentiles, an apostle, 
moreover, well versed in the most polite litera- 
ture of the age, hated, with Voltaire, the very 
name. of Christ; and would gladly, with 
d’Alembert, have exterminated, at a single 
blow, the whole multitude of the faithful. 


What then can it be, which hath made him to 


152 


Bt ite Fry humbly confess, or rather let 
the Apostle himself confess, that it was God, 
who worked in him both to will and to do of 
“his good pleasure. Without the converting 
and sanctifying grace of the Holy Ghost, Paul 
would for ever have remained dead in tres- 


passes and sins. 


In fine, to use the emphatic language of 
Seripture, the regenerate are the temple of the 
blessed Spirit, built upon the foundation of the 
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the 
chief corner stone.* God himself condescends 
to dwell within them ;+ and, like the Shechi- 
nah in his magnificent house at Jerusalem, 
sanctifies, illuminates, and directs them.+ 


What the soul is to the body, the Holy Spirit 


* Ephesians ii. 20. 


+ 1Cor. iii. 16. 2Tim.i.14. 1John iy. 12.15, 16. 


$ Ovdev AcvOaves tov Kuptovs wrrw xa Te upumres 


nay eyyns aut sorive Tlavre ovy woswmev @S &UTO® 


ee ee eee ee ee ee ee 
ns Sacer SE gat eal et Ot a a ol ee a cet 


153 


isto the Church. — By his powerful ageney, its 
members are not only enlightened and actu- 
ated individually ; but, like the several parts 
of the natural body, they are connected and 
held together in spiritual peace, order, union, 
and harmony.* 


Such, and so great are the privileges and en- 
dowments of a _ Christian. Tfowever those, 
that sit in the chair of the scorner, may mock 
at the counsel of God, and deride the opera- 


tions of his Holy Spirit ; they, who have expe- 


EV MLV KATOLMOVITOSs LV WEY MUTOL Vette xo wUToS nev 
meiy Osc npeely, omee rout ecTiy ner Davarercr apo 
meorwmey nua && ay dinaias cyoemrumsy avrey, 
Ignat. Epist. ad Ephes. ' 

Conversemur quasi Dei templa, ut Deum in nobis con- 
stet habitare. Nec sit degener actus noster a Spiritu, ut 
qui coelestes et spirituales esse cepimus, non nisi spiri- 
tuaha et celestia cogitemus et agamus. Cyprian. de 
Orat. Domin. 

* Barrow’s Works, Vol. ii. p. 508. 


PR 


454 


rienced the benefit of his influence, thankfully 
acknowledge the greatness of his power in the 
conversion and sanctification of a sinner. They 
know, in whom they have believed. If God be 

for them, who can be against them?. In all 
things they are more than conquerors through 
him that loved them. 


Blessed be God, even in these latter days of 


ihe Christian Church, his arm is not short- 
ened. Heis still both able and willing to save 
_all, who come to him in his Son’s name. His 
promises yet receive their accomplishment, 
nor can one jot or one tittle of his word fail. 
As many as areled by the Spirit of God, they 
are the sons of God. For ye have not received 
the spirit of bondage again to fear ; but ye have 
received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, 
Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bearing wit- 
mess with our spirit, that we-are the ch.ldren of 
God: and, if children, then heirs; heirs of 
God, and joint-heirs with Christ. For Iam 


455 


persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor 
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor 
things present, nor things to come, nor height, 
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be 
able to separate us from the love of God, which 


is in Christ Jesus our Lord.* 


* Rem, vik. 14. 38. 


ti # wt Sa rl a] Horas t 


fied i iat bei, sone 
bcs ial 


He os wie "ae at J 


haa / . Seven 
i] be 


ape lin * Se 


eer ee di ie ee yan Sty : ‘4 
inbrow ants 


py) by cayh 


ni pe: abode 


CHAPTER VI. 


the Holy Spirit, a Comforter, and an 


| Intercessor. 


Tue Christian, who has been accustomed 
to observe the workings of his heart, well 
knows that there are times, in which his views 
of a better world are greatly darkened and ob- 
scured. He is deprived of that comfortable 
reliance on the fatherly goodness of God, which 
once constituted his greatest joy and his high- 
est privilege. His love towards his Saviour 
appears to be strangely diminished; and, in-. 
stead of that fervent affection which once he 
experienced, he feels nothing but a cold and 


painful indifference. He sces others rejoicing 


158 
in the paths of holiness, and full of that peace 
which passeth all understanding ; while his 
better prospects are fearfully clouded, and a 
deep gloom overhangs his dejected spirits. 
Scripture, instead of offering him consolation, 
presents only a menacing aspect; and he 
- dwells, with an oppressive melanchely, upon 
those passages, which contain the severe de- 
nunciations of an offended God against har-— 
dened and impenitent sinners. Ordinances, 
‘that once seemed to bring all heaven upon his 
ear, now delight no more; and, though he 
sedulously frequents them, he appears to him- 
self to have, as it-were, no interest in them. 
The precious dew of God’s Holy Spirit de- 
scends upon all areund him; while he alone, 
like Gideon’s fleece, remains unaltered. | Pub- 
lieand private devotion are equally ineffica- 
cious; and even the social conversation of a 
dear and religious friend no longer produces 
its wonted effect. Weary of himself and sick 


of the world, bewailing the deadness of his 


159 
own heart, and mourning for the loss of those 
better days which once he knew, he is ready 
to exclaim 0 that I had wings like a dove, for 


then would I flee away and be at rest.* - 


Sueh appears frequently to have been the 
case with that favoured servant of God, the 
holy Psalmist of Israel. 0 Lord, rebuke “me 


Za 


se - : : ; : cy 


phon spir itual trials, that are the sharpest and most 
core of all, when. the furnace is within a man, when. 
God doth not only shut up “his loving kindness from its 
feelings, but seems to shut it up in hot displeasure, when 


he writes bitter things against it; yet then to depend 


_ upon him, and wait for his salvation, this is not only a 


true, but a strong, and very refined faith indeed, and the 


| mote he smpitess, the more to cleave to him. Well might 


he say, ‘When I am tried, I shall comé for th as gold. Who. 


could: say that wor rd, Though he slay me yet will I trust in 


him? though I saw, as it were, his hand lifted up to de- 


stroy me, yet from that same hand would 1 expect salva- 


_ tion.” Abp. Leighton’s Comment..on 1 Pet. 1—7. 


460 


not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot 
displeasure. For thine arrows: stick fast m 
me, and thy hand presseih me sore. . Dhere is 
no soundness in my flesh, becuuse of thine an- 
ger; neither is thei any rest mi my bones, be- 
cause of my sin. For,.mine iniquilies , are 
gone over mine head; as a heavy burden, they 
are too heavy for me. I am troubled, Jam 
bowed down greatly, I go mourning all the day 
long. Iam feeble and sore broken; I have 
roared by reason of the disquietness of my 
heart. Lord, all my desire is before thee; and 
my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart 
panteth, my strength faileth me; as for the 


light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.* — 


In another psalm he exclaims; my tears 
have been my meat day and night, while they 
continually say unto me, Where is thy God? 


~ 


* Psalm xxxviil. 


164 
When I remember these things, ¥ pour out my 
soulin me: for I had gone with the multitude, 
4 went with them to the house of God, with the 
voice of joy and praise, with the multitude that. 
kept holy-day. Notwithstanding this use of 
outward means, the heart of the prophet could 
still find no comfort ; Why art thou cast down, 
Omy soul? and why art thou disquieted within 
me? Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of the 
water-spouts ; all thy waves and thy billows 
are gone over me. In this melancholy situa- 
tion, David looks up for help to him, from 
whom alone help ean come. 0 my soul, hope 
thouin God, for I will yet praise him, who is 


the health of my countenance and my God.* 


- While the Christian labours under this de- 
pression of spirits, the subtle enemy of man- 


kind is busily employed in harassing and dis- 


* Psalm xlii. 


) 


162 


tracting his soul. A thousand anxious doubts 
and fears are suggested to him. His former 
happy communion with God appears only like 
a delusion ; and he is tempted to suspect, that 
he never knew what real religion is. All those 
arguments and evidences, from which he once 
concluded that he was at peate with Christ, no 
longer retain their former efficacy, but seem 
io have vanished into empty air. While he 
thus suffers the terrors of God with a troubled 
mind; he is almost induced to believe, that 
the Most High hath forgotten to be gracious, 
and hath for ever shut up the bowels of his 


compassion against him.* 


/ 


*'There are some very useful observations on this sub- 
ject, in a sermon by the late Bp. Horn, intitled The d/ess- 
ing of a cheerful heart. He judiciously refers the gloom 
which I have been describing, ultimately to a kind of in- 
fidelity, a timorous distrust of God’s promises. Some- 
thing of that sort will generally be found at the bottom 


of religious despondency, insomuch that every Christian 


163 


Persons in this uncomfortable state ought 
first to consider, whether their ease does not 
require the physician rather than the divine. 
ft is almost superfluous to observe, what has 
been already so often observed, how wonderful 
a connexion there is between the soul ahd the 
‘body. A long train of nervous affections will 
generally produce, if I may use the metaphor, 
a kind of enervation of the mind. Its facul- 
ties will lose their elasticity 3 and a deep de-— 
“pression of spirits will take place of that com- 
fort and serenity, which it is the direct tenden- 
ey of Christianity to inspire. Thanks be to” 
God, our religion is not a system of gloomy 
observances, or a succession of rites which 


freeze the soul with horror, and teach it. to 


has great reason daily to pray, Lord, I believe, help thou 
mine unbelief. See also Bp. Reynolds’ works, p. 458, and 
Doddwidge’s Rise and Progress of Religion, chap. XXiv. 
- from which very valuable treatise many of the followin eS 


observations are borrowed. 


16-4 


consider the beneficent Creator in the light ef 
a sanguinary and unrelenting demon. The 
Gospel contains glad news of great salvation 
io lost mankind; and, as such, ought to eon- 
vey to us sensations of pleasure, not of sorrow 
and melancholy. If, therefore, disorder be 
the sole cause of this painful dejection, a mere 
natural malady must be remedied by natural 
means; for we have no right to expeet that 
Ged should interfere with a miracle, in order 
to prevent a bedily distemper from producing 


its ordinary effeet upon the mind. 


But, where the corporeal frame is in a state 
of perfect good health,-and where every nerve 
is strung up te its proper pitch, if this painful 
sense of alienation from God, so emphatically | 
and beautifully styled in Seripture the hiding of 


(rod’s face,* still subsist ; it. will then be 


* Isai. xiv. 7. and lix. 2. 


165 


necessary to commence a deep and impar- 
tial serutiny both of the inward thoughts 
and of the outward conversation. Sins 
may have been committed, and repentance 
may have been neglected. Or, if external 
pollution has been avoided, the imagination 
may have been for some time past deliberately 
and habitually tainted with impurity, inflamed 
with hatred, or too eagerly and exclusively 
employed upon sensible objects. Should such, 
upon a candid examination, appear to have 
been the case, we may rest assured, that our 
offences have separated between God and us, 
and that our iniquilies have caused him to with- 
draw the cheering light of his Holy Spirit. 
Even supposing that the conscience does not 
plead guilty to these offences, we may possibly 
find, upon a more close seareh, that we have 
not entirely surrendered ourselves to the ser- 
vice of our heavenly master. Some seerct 
reservation, some. private compromise, may 
~ still be made. Like Ananias, we may be in- 
Q 2 


166 


clined to give only a part to God, still retain- 
ing the remainder for ourselves. Whichever 
of these be the ease with us, it is our duty im- 
mediately to put away from us the accursed 
thing and humbly to solicit peace and recon- 
ciliation with heaven.—If we find within our- 
selves a readiness to submit to the painful task 
of self-examination, that very eireumstance 
ought to be a matter of comfort to us in the 
midst of our dejection.—« It isa good sign of 
grace,” as Bp. Hopkins well observes, when a 
man is willing to search and examine himself, 
whether he be gracious or not. There is a 
certain instinct in a child of God, whereby he 
naturally desires to have the title of his legit- 
imation tried; whereas a hypeerite dreads 
nothing more than to have his rottenness 
searched into.—Try yourselves by this; do 
you love the word of God because it is a search- 
ing word, beeause it brings home convictions 
to you, and shakes your carnal confidences and 


presumptions? Do you love a ministry, that 


467 


speaks as closely and particularly to you, as if 
it were another conscience without you; a 
ministry, that ransacks your very souls, and 
tells you all that ever you did? Do you de- 
light in a ministry, that forceth you to turn 
inward upon yourselves, that makes you trem - 
ble and look pale at every word, for fear it 
should be the sentence of your damnation ? 
This is a sign that your condition is good, be- 


cause you are so willing to be searched.”’* 


Ifsuch be our ease, and if, after a diligent 


scrutiny, we are able to discover nothing more. 


_ than those ordinary imperfections with which 


the life of the very best Christian is chequer- 
ed ; if we cannot detect any particular cause 
of that gloom, which overhangs our spirits : 
jet us not in such circumstances be like unto 


men without hope. We may depend upon it, 


cee 


* Bishop Hopkins’ Works, p. 553. 


168 

that we are exposed to this trial for the wisest 
and most merciful purposes. All things will 
finally work together for good to those that love 
God. Perhaps it may be necessary for our 
spiritual welfare, that our faith should be pro- 
ved, that our self-confidence should be abated, 
and that we should be made to see that man, 
even in his best estate, is altogether vanity. 
The careless and the inconsiderate are igno- 
rant even of the very existence of this internal 
distress. Those, that God loveth, are the per- 
sons whom he more particularly chasteneth. 


if David was so frequently constrained to 


mourn by reason of affliction, and to exclaim 


in the. bitterness of his heart, Lord, why 


eastest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy 


face from me?* can we reasonably expect to 
be made perfect without suffering ? Our bles- 
sed Saviour himself was a man of sorrows and 


acquainted with grief, and such also his disci- 


* Psalm Ixxxyviti. 14. 


ee ee 


169 
ples must frequently be. His tender care, 
however, has not left us without a provision 
against the day of evil tidings. Blessed. are 
they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.* 
- This promise he was afterwards pleased to ex- 
plain more at large, and to point out to us that 
gracious personage, through whose agency we 
may expect to receive the balm of consolation. 
£ will pray the Father, and he shall give you 
another comforter, that he may abide with you 
for ever s even the Spirit of Truth; whom the 
world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, 
neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he 
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will 


not leave you comfortless.} 


In these words, another very important office 
of the Holy Ghost is pointed out to us; anda 
promise is made, that he should abide with us 


for ever in the capacity of a comforter. 


* Matt. v. 4. { John xiv. 16. 


170 

Through the midst of that gloom, with which 
the Christian is sometimes surrounded, a ray 
of light at length breaks 1 in upon his soul, and 
dissipates the heavy “clouds of despondency. 
His mourning is turned into joy; and, instead 
of his ashes, he receives the oil of gladness. 
His filial confidence in God is again restored 
to him; he clearly sees the infinite merit of 
his Redeemer’s sufferings; and doubts not 
to apply to himself that gracious invitation, 
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are 
heavy laden, and I will refresh you. Such 
are the great things, which God the Spirit 
hath done for his soul, and which he fails not 
to acknowledge with praise and thanksgiving. 
The remembrance of his past sorrows height- 
ens his present joy; his faith is greatly in- 
ereased; and he learns to cast his burden 
upon the Lord,* who alone is able to sustain 
him.t+ 


* Psalm ly. 22. 


+‘* The peace that we have with God in Christ, is 


74 
‘The Holy Psalmist frequently eelebraies the 
goodness and mercy of God for having deliv- 
ered him from this oppressive load of mental 
indisposition. Izwaited patiently for the Lord ; 
and he inclined unto me, and heard my ery. 


He brought me up also out of the horrible pit; 


inviolable; but, because the sense and persuasion of it 
may be interrupted, the soul, that is truly at peace with 
God, may for a time be disquieted in itself, through weak- 
ness of faith, or the strength of temptation, or the dark- 
ness of desertion, losing sight of that grace, that love and 
light of God’s countenance, on which its tranquillity and 
joy depend. Thou hidest thy face, saith David, and I was 
troubled. But when these eclipses are over, the soul is 
revived with new consolation, as the face of the earth is 
renewed, and made to smile with the return of the sun in 
the spring; and this ought always to uphold Christians 
in the saddest times, viz. that the grace and love of God, 
towards them, depends not on their sense, nor upon any 
thing in them, but is still in itself incapable of the small- 
est alteration.” Abp. Leighton’s Works, Vol. i. p. 47. 


172 


out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon 4 
rock, and established my goings. And he hath 
put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto 
our God; many shall see it, and fear, and 
shall trust in the Lord.* Most indeed of those 

Psalms, which begin sorrowfully, terminate | 
with expressions of joy and triumph. In 
short, as Dr. Barrow well observes, sitisa 
notable part of the Holy Spirit’s office to com- 
fort and sustain us, as in all our religious prac- 
tice, so particularly in our doubts, difficulties, 
distresses, and afflictions; to beget joy, peace, 
and satisfaction in us, in all our performances, 
and in all our sufferings, whence the title of 


comforter belongeth to him.} be Nk 


In addition to the internal trials of harassing 


doubts and fears, the Christian is also exposed 


* Psalm xl. 1. + Barrow’s Works, vol. ii. p. 505. 


173 
to those external ones which are the common lot 
of mortality. His communion with God does 
not exempt him from calamity and disease, 
from the loss of his dearest relatives, and from 
the ingratitude of his most confidential friends. 
They, whose portion is in this world, are fre- 
quently mueh less subject to temporal misfor- 
tunes, than the pious and, the just. Troubles 
of various kinds are often the lot of the most 
highly favoured children of God. Itis good 
for them to be kept ina state of perpetual war- 
fare, in order that they may be safe from earnal 
security and effeminate indulgence. The luxury. 
of Capua proved more fatal to the Carthagi- 
nian hero, than all the efforts of Roman valour : 
and a Christian is never more in danger, than 
when taught by prosperity to consider himself 
no longer in an enemy’s country. Whatever 
his afflictions are, he may rest assured that 
they are sent in mercy, not in anger ; that they 
are designed to wean his affections from sub- 
R 


174% 
lunary objects, and to rivet them, more int- 
moveably upon the promised joys of heaven. 
When every earthly prospect of felicity is blast- 
ed by the pangs of disease or the inroads of 
poverty, by the premature death of our best be- 
loved friends, or the loss of worldly reputation 
for the sake of our religion ; we then learn to 
loek for happiness beyond the graye, in those 
blessed abodes where the wicked cease from 
troubling. and where the weary are at rest, In 
such distressing circumstances, the Christian 
is not deserted by his Saviour ; and he soon 
finds, by his own happy experience, that. the 
Lord is a God who keepeth his promise with a 
thousand generations. Through the gracious 
influences of the Holy Spirit, he finds a light 
springing up in the midst of darkness ; his sor- . 
-pows are gradually assuaged ; his confidence 
in God is increased; and he is brought at 
length to acknowledge that it is good for him, 


that he has been afflicted. Ve now have sor- 


475 


row, said our blessed Lord to his disciples, but I 
will see you again, and your joy no man taketh 


from you® ~~ 


~ It is usually so ordered by the merciful Pro- 
vidence of God, that, when worldly comforts are 
‘at the lowest ebb, and when earthly enjoyments 
“are violently torn away from our grasp; the 
‘soul is then best fitted for divine exercises, and 
acquires a more thorough insight into heaven- 
ly matters. This sacred consolation seems to 
be inereased or diminished, according to the 
varying exigencies of the Christian. During 
the pains of martyrdom, all heaven opened 
upon the enraptured eyes of Stephen; and he 
beheld his Saviour ready to receive him into 
the mansions of everlasting felicity. Unless, 
however, we should be placed in a similar sit- 


uation, we certainly have no grounds to expect 


* John xvi, 22. 


476 


an equal degree of comfort: yet, when the 
pious believer is stripped ofall the good things 
~ which this world ean afford, and when the iron 
has entered into his very soul ; when his mor- 
tal part is, wasting away with disease, and 
when his immortal spirit trembles on the verge 
of futurity ; is it unreasonable to suppose that 
the God,. who hath promised to make all his 
bed in his sickness, will be his guide and his 
support even, to death itself? While the cur- 
rent of life is fast ebbing, never to flow again 
in this world; may we not humbly. trust that 
the Holy Spirit will descend into the soul with 
a full tide of glory, that all misgiving fears and 
anxious doubts will be remoyed, and that the. 
terror of uncertainty will be converted into the 


filial confidence of hope ?* 


* Far be it from me to assert, that these sensible com- 
forts are in the slightest degree necessary and essential te 
salvation: on the contrary, it is highly probable, that the 
sun of many of God’s faithful servants hath set behind a 


177 
' I trust, Beloved,” says the judicious 
Hooker, « we know that we are not repro- 
bates, because our spirit doth bear us record, 
that the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ is in us. 
Ft is as easy a matter for the spirit within you 
to tell whose ye are, as for the eyes of your 
body to judge where you sit or in what place 
yeu stand.—For they, which fall away from 
the grace of God and separate themselves unto 
perdition, they are fleshly and earnal, ‘they 
have not God’s Holy Spirit. But unto you, be- 
cause ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spi- 
rit of his Son into your hearts, to the end ye 
might know that Christ hath built you upon a 
rock unmoveable ; that he hath registered your 
names in the book of life; that he hath bound 


SR STR SA aericemaeeeaameseerere ee 


cloud, in order only to rise with greater splendour in the 
kingdom of heaven. The possibility, and the necessity, of 


such comforts, are two entirely distinct ideas, 
i: a 


178 


himself in a sure and everlasting covenant te 
be your God, and the God of your children af- 
ter you.—The Lord, of his infinite merey, give 
us hearts plentifully fraught with the treasure 
of this blessed assurance of faith unto the 


end.?* 


- We are not however to imagine, that the 
comforts of a Christian are uniformly the same 
at all times, or that an equal sense of being at 
peace with God is granted to every believer. 
és his assurance,” says the excellent Arch- 
bishop Leighton, « all the heirs of glory have 
not ordinarily within them, and searee any at 
all times equally clear. Some travelon ina 
covert cloudy day, and get home by it, having 
so much light as to know their way, and yet do 


not at allclearly see the bright and full sun- 


* Hooker’s Works, Vol. iii. p. 557, 558. Oxf. Edit. 


179 
shine of assurance: others have it breaking 
forth at some times, and/anon under a cloud: 
and some more constantly. But, as all meet 
in the end, so all agree in this in the beginning, 
that is, the reality of the thing ; they are made 
unalterably sure heirs of it, in their effectual 


ealling.”’* 


The scriptural expression, the seal of the 
Spirit, seems plainly to signify, that the soul 
of that Christian, upon whom it is impressed, 
bears as evident marks of conformity to the 
will of God, as the wax does of similarity to 
the seal by which it has been stamped.}+ By 
means of this resemblance, the Spirit beareth 


wh 


_* Works, Vol. ii. p. 340. 

} See Bp: Hopkins’s Works, p: 529. Bp. Andrews’s 
Works, p. 654. 660. Bp. Hooper’s Works, p. 581, Bp. 
Wilkins on Prayer, p. 226. 


480 


witness with our spirits that. we are the. cliil- 
dren of God, thus infusing into our hearts, the 
sweet balm of divine, consolation.. .As_ the, 


Christian clearly discerns, that there is a natu- 


ral unfitness in the unregenerate soul.to enier 


into the kingdom of heaven ; so, in consequence 


ef the change, which has taken place within 


him, he argues, that the regenerate soul, the 


soul which bears the impression of the seal of 


the Spirit, is also unfit for the society of the 


damned. However deeply he may be con- 


scious of his numerous deficiencies, yet lie finds 


within himself a certain relish and affection 


for heayenly matters, which ,he knows is fer- 
eign to his nature, and which consequently 


must have been derived from some external 


influence. OF ourselves we. can neither will. . 
nor do ary thing that is good: he finds, that , 


he does both will and do that which is good, 


though in a degree far inferior to his wishes: 
hence he concludes, that his sufficiency is de- 


rived, net from himeelf, but from God. He 


481 
looks around him and perceives that the bulk 
ef mankind have no standard of action except 
their own inclinations ; they consider not what 
is acceptable to God, but what is pleasing to 
themselves ; and their own gratification is the 
sole end of all their pursuits. On the contrary, 
he cannot avoid observing, though it be with 
the utmost humility, that his conduct is-influ- 
enced by widely different principles. Self is 
daily mortified, and the sense of duty is daily 
strengthened. His lofty looks are humbled, - 
— and his haughtiness is bowed down: the Lord 
alone is exalted, and his honour alone is con- 
sulted.* Though he may perpetually fall 
short of his intentions, yet those intentions 
remain unaltered ; and his fixed purpose is to 
do all things to the glory of God. When he 
considers what has been done for his soul, he 
is filled with gratitude and humility. His 


. é 


® ¥saiah ii. 11, 


4182 


ewn yileness forms such a contrast with the 
mercy of his Redeemer, as fills him with aston- 
ishment ; and he is constrained to acknowledge 
that the whole is the Lord’s doing. Such is 
that blessed correspondence of our inclinations 
with the will of God, which Scripture deno- | } 
aminates the seal of the Spirit ; such are those 
strong consolations, which the Almighty alone ~ 
is able to bestow upon us. Seino vnc ds some 


_ Nor does the title of Paraclete convey sim- 
ply the idea of a comforter ; it is also the office 
of the Holy Ghost. to suggest to us fit matter 
for our devotions, and to present our imper- ; 
fect supplications before the throne of grace. 
Of ourselves, we are unable to offer up a single } 
acceptable prayer; for every good and every — 
perfect gift cometh from above. Hence the | 
Apostle declares, that the Spirit also helpeth — 
our infirmities; for we know not what we - 
should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit © 
itself maketh intercession for us with groan- 


{83 
ings which cannot be uttered.* He is eur ad- 
_voeate at the bar of heaven, where he continu- 
ally pleads in‘our behalf the merits of our 
blessed Saviour with an eloquence, of which 
mortal tongues are ineapable. To adopt the 
language of the pious Barrow, « He reclaim- 
eth us from error and sin; he supporteth and 
strengtheneth us in temptation; he adviseth 
and admonisheth, exciteth and encourageth 
us to all works of piety and virtue.—fe guid- 
eth, aad quickeneth us in devotion: “showing 
us what we should ask ; raising in us holy de- 
sires and comfortable hopes; disposing us to 
approach unto God with fit dispositions of 
mind, love, and reverence, and humble confi- 
dence.—He is also our intercessor with God ; 
presenting our supplications, and procuring 
our good. He eryeth in us, he pleadeth for 
us to God. Whence he is peculiarly called 


eran =e 


* Rom. vii. 26, 


mapaxdnTes, the advocate; that is, ene, whe is 
ealled in by his good word, or. countenance to. 
aid him, whose cause is to be examined, or pe- 


tition to be considered.” * 


é These are the benefits, which the Christian 
receives from the Holy Spirit, in the way of. 
eonsolation and intercession. In the midst of. 
his troubles, he is not left comfortless ; for he. 
is perfectly assured and conyineed, that. God 
careth for him. - A peace unknown to the. 
wicked is diffused over his heart ; and he grate- 
fully confesses that the hand, which bestowed 
it, must be divine.» He approaches the throne 
of grace without fear ; for he knows in whom 
he hath believed, and relies upon the interces- 
sion of the Almighty Spirit. - Impressed 
with the conviction of these great truths, he 


ean joyfully take up the words of the Psaimist ; 


* Barrow’s Works, Vol. ii. p. 505: 


ia 


| 


185 

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall net want. 
He maketh me to lie down in §reen pastures ; 
heteadeth me beside the still waters. He re- 
storeth my soul, he leadeth me in the paths of 
righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though 
Ewalk through the valley of the shadow of 
death, I will fear no evil ; for thou art with 
me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 
Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all 
the days of my life, and I will dwell in the 

house of the Lord for ever.* 


* Psalm xxiii. 


CHAPTER Vil. 


The fruits of the Spirit contrasted with the 
works of the flesh. 


I. Norwitustanpine the preceding discus- 
sion, some one may still perhaps be inclined to 
ask, How am I to know, whether my under- 
standing, my will, and my affections, have in- 
deed been acted upon by the Holy Spirit of 
- God? 'The question is a mest important one, 
yet, L trust, by no means unanswerable. Would 
we solve it satisfactorily, let us haye recourse 


io Scripture. 


188 


1. Some attempt to reduce the whole of the 
miluences of the Spirit to a mere external de- 
corum 5 and profanely deery as enthusiasm the 
belief ia that supernatural change of heart, 
the necessity of which is so strongly incul- 
cated by ‘our Saviour. Asif it were probable, 
that the diabolical sins of envy, hatred, and 
inalice, sins perfeetly compatible with outward 
decency, did not render a man just as much a 
child of hell, as the more glaring turpitude of 


drunkenness, fornication, and dishonesty. 


2. On the other hand, some w ould persuade 
US, that Po et the whole of religion consists 
in warm and lively feelings ; and that, unless 
our souls are perpetually (as it were) in the 
third heaven, we know but little of the nature 
of the Spirit’s influences, or of the privileges 
of genuine Christianity. Hence they are ob- 
viously led to imagine, that, if sensible com- 
forts abound, they may safely conclude them- 


selyes at peace with God; but that, if they be 


189 


withdrawn, they have no longer any right te 
believe themselves his children. ‘Thus the 
favour of the Almighty, of him who knoweth 
neither change nor shadow of turning, is sup- 
posed to be as variable and irregular as the 
human temperature. The frequent coldness 
and langour of our devotions, the perpetual 
wandering of our thoughts from divine sub- 
jeets, and the indifference with which we too 
often contemplate the redeeming goodness of 
our Lord, are indeed sad proofs of the corrup- 
tion of our nature, and afford ample cause for 
humility and contrition : but there is no reason 
to think, that they are marks of unregeneracy, 
“or tokens of God’s rejection and abiding dis- 
pleasure. His covenant is built upon a surer 
foundation than either our feelings or our faith- 
fulness: feelings, which are subject to inces- 
sant variation; and faithfulness, which the very 
best ef us must own to be but too unfaithful. 


~ 


$2 


190 

3. Ged willing more abundantly to show unto 
the heirs of promise the immutability of his 
counsel. confirmed it by an oath > that. by twe 
immutable things, in which it was impossible 
for God to lye, we might have a strong conso- 
lation, who have fied for refuge to lay held 
upon the hope set befors us: which: hope we 
have as an anchor of the soul both sure and 
HeAdPast sor eet aren sips em tana aed 


* 
< 44 4 Fy y ya 


This is the ereat charier of the Christian, , 
on which he builds the hope of his salvation. 
God hath sworn, that he will never forsake the 
heirs_of promise; but that he will be with 
them in every. trial, and will safely. conduct 

them to the very end of their pilgrimage. 
Therefore, with faithful Abrahantiy they be- 
“lieve even against hope and in despite of their 


natural feelings. They may be cast down, 


+ Heb. 


49i 


but they are not destroyed ; and, in the midst 
of all their difficulties, they trust that a life is 
hid for them with Christ in God.* Faith is 
not the evidence of things seen, but of things 
anseen: consequently, if our religious state 
was to be decided. by our feelings, the very 
foundation of faith would be overturned ; and 
ae should have sensible demonstration of that, 
which we are required to believe, simply be- 


eause God has promised it. 


» TI. The same question, however, may still 
pe asked ; How am I to know, whether i have 
been renewed by the Holy Ghost? How can I 
tell whether I have any right to apply God’s pro- 
mises to myself? The charter of salvation is 
sufficiently clear and explicit; but that will 
afford ME little comfort, unless I hace good 


reason for thinking that I am included. 


* Coloss. iii. 3. 


192. 


4. Let us see, whether we cannot find an an- 
swer to these queries, in the page of Seripture. 
St. Paul informs us, that the flesh lusteth against 
the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh : and 
these are contrary the one to the other.* Are we 
sensible then of any internal contest of this des- 
cription in our hearts ¢ Do we perceive a. new 
principle, to which we were formerly strangers, 
strongly drawing us to the practice of holiness. 
and all good works; while another principle 
damps our ardour, discourages our exertions, and 
too frequently frustrates our best resolutions 7 
He, that has never felt such a struggle, must 
either be sinless or dead in sins. It is needless 
to say, that the former supposition eannot but he 
erroneous. 

2. We further learn from the Apostle, that 
we cannot do the things that we would. | Are we 
deeply conscious then, that this is our ease? De 

OMEN MS Tem WET Bee 
* Gal.y. 17. 


19s 
we daily more and more discover our own in- 
suflicieney ? Do we lament that we cannot per- 
form our duty better, labouring however at the 
same time incessantly after spiritual improve- 
ment? Many persons will readily enough ac- 
knowledge their imperfeetious; but the ques- 
tion‘is, in what manner do they make the aec- 
‘Knowledgment? Do they really feel the burden 
of their sins to be intolerable? Do they indeed, 
and from the very botlom of their souls, experi- 
ence the pain and grief of falling so far short of 
their wishes? Or do they confess their failings 
with as much phlegmatic indifference, as if it 
were a matter which concerned any body in the 
whole world rather than themselves? The dis- 
orders of the soul are constantly represented in 
Seripture by corresponding disorders of the 
body: hence it is reasonable to suppose, that, as 
corporeal pain is the result of the latter, so 
‘mental pain or grief will be the natural conse- 


quence of the former. In what manner then is 


194: 


a person affected, who has long laboured under 
the pressure of aseyere disease? Will he speak 
of his pains with insensibility ?. Will he sit down 
perfeetly contented with his malady, totally for- 
get its inconvenience, and take no steps to pro- 
eure its removal, or at least its alleviation? 
Where did we ever meet with a sick man, who 
answered to this description ? Can we then easily 
believe, that he is very sensible of his spiritual 
disorder, who speaks of it with carelessness, 
finds it no obstacle to his enjoyments, and feels 
scarcely any desire for its expulsion? If a man 
really perceived, that he cannot do the things 
which he would, in the same manner that St. 
Paul did, he would experience the same resiless 
sorrow, which constrained the Apostle to ery 
out ; O wretched man that I am, who shall de- 
liver me from the body of this death? Let us then 
seriously ask ourselves, Do we clearly discern 
our inefficiency ; do we lament our numerous 


failings ; and do we labour earnestly after 


195 


amendment? ‘The answer to these questions is 
almost alone sufficient to decide, whether we 
have any right to consider ourselves heirs of the 


promise. 


The Apostle however is not content to let the 
matter rest here. He gives us a black cata- 
logue of those deeds of darkness which are the 
works of the flesh, and then forcibly contrasts 
them with the fruits of the Holy Spirit, thus 
paraphrasing, as it were, our Saviour’s brief 


declaration, By their fruits ye shall know them. 


‘JIL. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, 
which are these 3 adultery, fornication, unclean- 
ness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witcheraf » ha- 
tred, cariance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedi- 
tions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, 
revellings, and such like : of the which Itell you 
before, as Ihave also told you in time past, that 


196 


they which do such things shall not inherit the 
kingdom of God.* 


4. Ifthen we be anxious to know whether we 
are led by the Spirit of God, let us examine our- 
selves, and learn whether we work the deeds of 
the fesh. Do we live in habits of fornication 
aud uncleanness? Are. we addicted to the foul 
_sin of drunkenness? Or, supposing that we are 
free from these external abominations, are we 
equally guiltless of internal wickedness ? Do we 
set up the world as an idol in opposition te the 
living God? Do we indulgein sentiments of un- 
charitableness towards our neighbours? Do we 


entertain a proud, self-sufficient opinion of our- 


selves ; and contend, upon all occasions, with — 


the bitterest animosity, for what we call our 


rights? Are we uneasy and restless beneath the 


~ 


* Galat. v. 19. 


ee ne ae ee 


497 
lawful. authority of our superiors, perpetu- 
ally striving to foment discord and sedition, 
despising dominion, and speaking evil of 
dignities 2* Do we. delight. in promoting 
schism and heresy in the Chureh; and, un- 
der the cloak of Christian zeal, in acting 
the same part now, that Korah, Dathan, 
and Abiram, did of old? Are we guilty of per- 
verting religion into rebellion, and faith into 
faction, or of concealing the most Antichristian 
sentiments beneath the specious mask of piety 
and humility? Let us diligently serutinize 
our hearts, and see, whether they produce 
these corrupt fruits ; and if we unhappily find 
| such to be the case, while we lament our wick- 
edness and tremble at our danger, let us pray 


God to grant us a better spirit and to enable us 


* Jude 8. 


498 


to forsake the evil of our ways. ‘What is the 
awful declaration of the Apostle respecting 
the workers of iniquity ? T tell you before, as I 
have also told you in time past, that they which 
do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of 
God. ) i ce. Sy a ae 


2. It may perhaps be said, Ff God be extreme 
fo mark whatis done amiss, who may abide it 2 
Where is the man, who does not offend daily, 
both in thought, word, and deed? 

tan é4 

We readily acknuwledge, that our very best 
deeds are unclean in the eyes of him, who 
chargeth ecen his angels with folly; but the 
point is, in what manner do we bear the con- 
sciousness of our sinfulness ? Are we penitent, 
or impenitent, offenders?) Mercy is abundantly 
held forth to the former ; but pardon is never 
once offered to the latter. Though God gives 
his grace to the humble, he stedfastly resists 


the proud, and the presumptueus. Were we 


499 


really conscious of the load of our iniquities, did 
we really desire to be freed from their yoke, 
we should feel ourselves little less incommoded 
by our subjection te them, than the eye does 
when inflamed with even the most. minute par- 
ticle of sand. We all know, that the very 
stinallest mote oceasions such an exquisite de- 
gree of pain in the organ of vision, as to permit 
us to enjoy no rest until it be extracted. Some- 
thing similar to this are the sensations of the 
man, who truly feels his sin to be. a grievous 
burden to him. He is uneasy aad restless un- 
tilit be removed; he cannot eheerfully, or even 
tamely, acquiesce in its dominion ; ner.can he 
‘be content, so long as ke knows himself to be 
its vassal. 

 Hfere then we have another test, by which 
we may decide whether or no we are ina state 
of grace. If we acknowledge our sins without 
the least compunction and without any wish to 


be freed from their tyranny, our situation is in- 


200 


deed most awfully dangerous; we tremble ow 
‘the very brink ofa precipice, from which if we 
full, we fall to rise no more. But, if we feela: | 
vehement degree of pain and restless uneasiness? 
in their continuance, if we experience a strong 
and ardent desire for their removal, if we. la-. 
bour incessantly to effect their extirpation, if 

we declare everlasting war against them: our. 
situation then is good ; we have then no reason 

to doubt, but. that the Holy Spirit of God. is, 
contending for the possession of our hearts. 

In such a ease, let us joyfully welcome the 
heavenly visitor, and resign ourselves implicitly. 


to his guidance and direction... .». ... » 


3. We are not. however to be content with 
mere negative religion, with only endeavouring. 
to abstain from evil ; we must also labour after 
the things that are good. ‘The Holy Spirit is. 
an active energetic principle, and is perpetually 
employed in new-moulding the hearts of the 


fatthful and in leading them to the praetice of 


all righteousness. Good works, as our Churehi 
justly deterinines,* necessarily spring out of a 
true and lively faith; and it is impossible for: 
those, who are under the influence of the Holy 
Ghost, to avoid showing whose servants they 
are by their life and conversation. Hence, a 
striking difference of character will always be 
pereeptible between the children of light and 
the children of darkness: insomuch that, 
generally speaking, it will require no very 
great degree of penetration to discriminate 
between: them; especially, if we study: the 
strongly-drawn portraits of them, with which 


we have been furnished by the Apostle. 


‘TV. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, 
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness) 
faith, meekness, temperance: against such 


there is no law. And they, that are Christ's, 


* Art. xit. 
rT 2 


202 


have crucified the flesh, with the affections and 


lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also 
walk in the Spirit.* 


4. The Christian, though originally in a_ 


state of enmity with God, has his affections so 
far changed by the influence of the Holy Ghost, 
that he now loves what before he hated, and 
now hates what before he loved. None per- 
haps of the sacred writings breathe the spirit 
of divine charity in a more eminent degree, 
than those of the beloved diseiple of our Lord. 
They contain a beautiful picture of that dove- 
like temper which seems peculiarly to have 
belonged to their author, and may be consider- 
‘ed as a kind of manual for the daily use of 
believers. | 


Nocturna versate manu, versate diurna. 


* Galat. y..22. 


Se Ur ee ee ee ee 


203 


rom a constant perusal of them, joined with 
the prayer of faith, we may reasonably expect 
to derive some portion of that spirit with which 
‘they are animated, When a Christian con- 
siders his own rebellious and perverse nature, 
and contrasts it with the wonderful goodness 
of God, displayed in his redemption and sanc- 
tification ; his heart is softened with such con- 
descending marks of Almighty love. He is 
astonished at that merey and patience, which 
so long bore with his iniquities and spared him 
till the hour of repentance arrived. He recol- 
ects numbers cut off in the midst of their 
eareer, without ever having had his opportuni- 
‘ties vouchsafed to them ; and the words of the 
Apostle instantly recur to his mind, Who hath 
made thee to differ from another ? He is deeply 
conscious, that he had no claim upon God on 
the score of a prerequisite: meritoriousness ; 
and he acknowledges that he might justly have 
been suffered to perish in his sins. This con- 


viction, united with the consideration of his 


204 
present happy state, fills his heart with senti- 
ments of humble love and devout gratitude. 
He confesses the whole to be free grace, and 
he gives all the glory tu God. Boasting is 
excluded, and a heart-felt humility takes place 


of vanity and presumption. 


We were by nature the children of wrath, 
even as others ; but God, who is rich im mereyy 
for his great love wherewith he loved US, Ever 
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us 
together with Christ : by grace ye are saved ; 
and hath raised us up together, and made us 
sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus : 
that in the ages to come he might show the ea 
ceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness 
toward us through Christ Jesus—For through 
him we both have access by one Spirit unto the 
Father. Now therefore ye are no more stran- 
gers and foreigners, but fellow-citixens with 
the saints, and of the househeld of God; and 
are built upon the foundation of the apostles 


205° 
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the 


sai corner-stone.* 


The vaca of these benefits excites 
the uimost love of the Christian, and he ex- 
periences the truth of St. John’s declaration : 
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that 
he loved us, and sent his sonto be the propitiation 
for our sins. We love him, because he Jirst 
loved us.t While his affections are thus set 
on things above, he does not forget to draw the 
same edifying conclusion from the goodness of 
his heayenly Father, which the Apostle did be- 
fore him. If God so loved us, we ought also to 
love one another.t ‘This is the only sure foun- 


dation of love to our brethren. The world has 


* Ephes. ii. 3. 18. + 1 John iv. 10, 19, 
+ 1 Jobn. iv, 11. 


206 
often largely and eloquently discoursed upon 
sincerity and disinterestedness, but it has felt 
little of the reality; and a thousand untoward 
accidents will overthrow the most ancient friend- 
ships, unless they be built upon the rock of 
Christianity. ‘That, which among natural men 
is a mere abstract idea, a metaphysical non-en- 
tity, is converted by the influence of religion in- 
toa glorious reality. Behold how these Chris- 
tians love one another, was the constrained ob- 
servation even of paganism ; and such will al- 
ways be the case, wherever vital religion pre- 
yails. An ardent desire to promote the spiritual 
welfare of our neighbours, a teader concern for 
the interest of their souls, and a hearty wish te 
do them all the gocd in our power, independent 
of any secondary motives, are some of the best. 
proofs that we are led by the Spirit of God. 
Beloved, let us love one another ; for love is of 
God, and every one that loveth is born of God, 
and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth 
not God, for God is love—Lf we love one ano- 


207 


ther, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfeci- 
edinus. Hereby know we, that we dwell in him, 
and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spi- 
riti—If a man say, I love God, and hateth. his 
brother, he is a ree : for he, that loveth not his 
brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God, 
whom he hath not seen? And this commandment 
have we from him, Lhat he, who loveth God, love 


his brother also.* 


_ 2. When the Christian is thus in a state of 
charity both with God and his neighbour, he 
experiences that joy and that peace, which 
passeth all understanding ; which the world is 
neither able to confer nor to take away. His joy 
is not like the mad, short-lived joys of the chil- 
dren of darkness, but stable and durable. It is 
founded upon the sense of his being reconciled 
to God, through the blood of Jesus Christ. 


* 1 John iv. 7. 12. 20. 


208 


Hienee it is not liable to be affected by those 


eutward circumstances, which shake the hap- 


piness of the worldly-minded. In the midst of 


persecution and distress, sickness and afllic- 
tion, the serenity of the Christian still remains 
unmoved; and he leoks forward with confi- 
dence to the recompence of reward, being well 
assured, that all these momentary sorrows 
work for him a far more-exceeding and eternal 
weight of glory. His joy and peace, itis true, 
are not of a violent and tumultuous kind; they 
are rather a sensation of security and tran- 
moelney than a sudden flash of rapturous tran- 
sport; they resemble the salutary and equable 
warmth of the sun, not the portentous blaze 
of a meteor. Such was the peace, which the 
apostles experienced, when they rejoiced, that 
they were counted worthy to suffer shame for 


the name of Christ ;* and such was that eon- : 


‘ - 


* Acts vv Al, 


2 
| 
“ 
f 


209 


didenece which made the primitive martyrs ap- 
pear rather as if they, were marching in a — 
driumph, than as if led to torments and igno- 
miny. External sorrows, indeed, the Chris- 
tian must expeet, but nothing is able to deprive 
him of his internal comfort. Notwithstanding 
his outward. distresses, he feels all the value 
of his privileges, and enyies not the transitory 
prosperity of the worldling. Ye now have 
' sorrow, said our Lord to his disviples, but Z 
will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, 
and your joy no man taketh from you.* This 
serenity, though undoubtedly not without some 
interruptions, is the portion of the Christian 
through the appointed term of his pilgrimage. 
It may occasionally for wise purposes be with- 
drawn, and his sensible comforts may be di- 


minished ; but the eye of faith still looks for- 


* John xvi. 22, 


U 


“240 


ward to. the joys of heaven, and anticipates 
the time when doubt and sorrow shall be swal- 
lowed up in victory. Grief is seldom long the 
portion of a Christian. 1 light springs wp in 
the midst of darkness, and gladness once more 
becomes the lot of such as are true-hearted. 
~ The joys of religion are the encouragement of 
youth, and the prop of old age. Without them 
we sicken even in the midst of prosperity ; and 
with tem adversity loses all its terrors. 
‘hey sweeten our slumbers; they soothe our 
waking hours. At home and abroad, in pri- 
vate and in publie, they are our constant com- 
panions, our richest treasures. The vigour 
of youth, and the blush of health, are transi- 
tory blessings; the pride of rank soon wea- 
ries; and riches make themselves wings and 
fly away : but the joy of a Christian, though 
it walks upon earth, hides its head in heaven. 
It is the gift of God; and Ged alone is able to 


deprive him of it. 


244 

~ 3. An abiding sense of his own defeets, and a 
grateful remembrance of undeserved mercies, 
produce ina believer the amiable qualities of 
long suffering, meekness, aud gentleness. Dif. 
ferences, indeed, there will be in the various 
tempers of various Christians ; nor do the nat- 
orally harsh and rugged, perhaps, ever attain 
to thé same eminence in these graces, as the 
naturally placid and benign. But a similar 
spirit will nevertheless be observable in them 
all ; a spirit far removed from that proud sense 
of in jury, that haughty self-vindication, whieh 
constitutes the very essence of modern honour. 
A desire of mutual accommodation ; a meek 
endurance of the perverseness of others ; a pa- 
tient tolerance of those little aff ronts, which are 
the offspring of childish petulance, and which 
are frequently more irritating than serious acts 
of injustice; mark the characters of al! real 
Christians. He, to whom nature has given 
less of the milk of human kindness, mourns in 


private over those sallies into which he is some- 


. 


212 


times hurried, and labours incessantly to check 
the impetuosity of his temper. On the other 
hand, he, who has received a more plentiful 
share of the milder affections, blesses God for 
his bounty, and rejoices in the cultivation of his 
talent. All are not born.with the amiable dis- 
position of St. John; but all are enabled, in a 
sufficient degree, to subdue innate fer ocity, and 
to repress the sudden starts of proud indigna- 
tion. The leopard is constrained to lie down 
with the kid, and the wolf to dwell with the 
lamb; the lion and the bear put off their sav- 
age natures, and submit to the guidance even 
of an infant. 

rade Aisin eminent fr ‘uit of the Spir itis ; goad. 
ness, without holiness no man shall see the Lord, 
but without the assistance of the Holy Ghost no 
man can attain to holiness ; hence goodness is 
rightly enumerated among the fruits of the 
Spirit. The Christian will not allow himself to 


indulge in the commission of any sin. The 


213 
same sense of duty, which restricts him from 
fornication and uncleanness, forbids him also to 
violate the laws of temperance and moderation. 
He is not satisfied with a partial observance of 
God’s commandments ; his principle is wniver- 
sal and unlimited obedience. He seeks not to 
extenuate a favourite vice ; he strives not to per- 
suade himself, that it is only a venial infirmity : 
he rather labours to eradicate it entirely from 
his breast, and to tear it away, though it be as 
dear to him as the apple of his eye. Yet while 
he struggles to attain persenal holiness both in 
thought, word, and deed ; he carefully guards 
~ against the fatal error of trusting to it for his 
justification. When he has done all, he stilt 
acknowledges himself to be an unprofitable 
servant 3 and places all the hopes of his sal- 


vation, solely upon the merits of his Redeemer. 


5. This stedfast reliance upon the all-suffi- 
ciency of the blood of Christ is the grand and 
‘Most impertant gift of the Spirit. Faith is the 


, 


ron ee ee 


244 


tree, from whieh all other graces spring; the 
shield. which is to defend us from the assaults of 
the powers of darkness ; the sure rock, upon 
which we must lay our foundations., That faiths 
- which is the fruit of the Spirit, is: nota barren, 
inactive belief, a cold, speculative assent to the 
iputh of our religion ; but a, lively, energetic 
principle, which God alone is able to instill into 
the heart. “We may be irresistibly compelled 
io a bare belief by the mere'foree of evidence 5 
but, unless God is pleased to superadd to it a 
Christian faith, it will only be the same con- 
viction as that, which forces the deyils to trem- 
ble. A man must believe with the heart to 
vighteousness,* not. simply with the head. or 
ihe will derive but little benefit from the ortho- 
doxy ofhis faith. Moet every one, that saith 
unto me, Lord, Lord, shalt enter into the king- 
dom of heaven, but he that doeth the will gf my — 


¥ Rom. x.£0. 


215 


Father, which isin heaven. | Christian faith is 
a grateful acknowledgment of the mercies of 
redemption ; an unshaken confidence in the 
word of him, who hath promised ; the instru- 
ment, by which we receive the benefits. of 
Christ’s death and passion; and the main-spring, 
7 which occasions and regulates all our actions. 
fi implants love in the heart, and produces pu- 
rity in the conversation. It is the seed of all 
goodness, and the fruitful parent of all those 
graces which adorn the Christian profession. 
Through faith, the weak become strong:;. the 
doubtful, resolute ; and the timid, courageous: 
Faith holds up before their eyes the pr ospect of 
a heavenly kingdom, and convinces them ‘of the 
emptiness of earthly enjoyments. , It enables 
them to erucify the flesh withits affections. and 
lusts, to fear no difficulties, and to shrink from 
no dangers. It teaches them to draw near in 
juli assurance of hope, having: their hearts 
sprinkled from an evil conscience. and. their. bo- 


dies washed with pure water, and to hold fast 


216 


their profession without wavering, for he is 
faithful that promised. It enables them to lay 
aside every weight and the sin which doth so ea- 
sily beset them, and. to run with patience the race 
that is set before them, looking unto Jesus, the 
author and finisher of their faith, who for the 
Joy, that was set before him, endured the eross, 
despising the shame, and is set down at the right 
hand of the majesty of heaven. In short, faith 
is the middle link, which conneets the visible 
and invisible worlds ; which supports us in this 
life, and fits us for the life to eome. 


_Y. Such are the blessed fruits of the Spirit of 
God : a total change takes place in the heart ; 
and along with it a total change in the motives, 
the actions, and the conversation. An answer 
is now obtained to the important question, Have 
been renewed by the Holy Ghost ? Try yourself 
by the Christian standard ; examine yourself 


diligently ; and see, whether you produce those 


217 


fruits, which are meet for repentance. Do 
you indulge in the practice of any known sin? 
Do you suffer yourself to be enslaved by the 
diabolical passions of envy; hatred, and malice ¢ 
Do you find a selfish spirit predominate, instead 
of that generous and diffusive love, which is 
the peculiar characteristic of Christianity? Se 
again, if you be happily conscious that such is 
not your cases do you per form your good deeds 
froma sincere desire of promoting the honour of 
Godand the cause of religion, rather than from 
vain-glory and ostentation! Do you strive in all 
things to consult the will of the Most High, 
however it may eross your own private inclina- 
tions! And do you labour to subdue. and eradi- 
cate every. unkind emotion and every vicious 
| propensity ? Hereby we do know, that we know 
| Christ, if we keep his commandments. He that 
saith, I know him, and kreepeth not his com- 
mandmenis, is a liar, and the truth is not in 


him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily 


° 


218 


is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we 
that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in 
him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he 
walked.* If then we would know, whether 
we be under the influence of the Holy Spirit, let 
us consider how far we imitate the example 


and tread in the steps of our blessed Saviour. — 


4. Perhaps some dejected self-eondemned 
penitent may be ready to exclaim ;. Alas! who 
may abide when God cometh in judgment 2 My 
transgressions and rebellions are so numerous ; 
_ my Sood deeds are so few, so trifling, and so 
ill-performed ; my percverseness of temper is se 
incorrigible 3 my selfishness is so deeply rooted ; 
my love to God and my brethren is so feeble, sa 
insincere, and so lukewarm; that I can searce- 


ly venture to conclude, that I have received the 


* I John ii. 3. 


219 
Holy Spirit into my heart. When I see the pro- 
gress which other Christians have made in holi- 
ness, and compare it with my own backward- 
ness; when I contrast their cheerful <cal with 
my own reluctance and indifference: I appear 
to myself to be scarcely worthy of bearing even 
the name. of a believer; much less of being a 
suitable residence, a jit temple, for the Holy 
Ghost. stand condemned by my own con- 


science ; and how ean I hope that God will ac- 
quit me ? 


_ Such cases as these are far from being un- 
- frequent; but, though they may be painful, 
they are the very reverse of being dangerous. 
Let a person in this situation consider the wide 
difference between his state of mind, and that 
of the gay luxurious worldling. While the one 
is depressed eyen to the very dust by a deep 
sense of his own unworthiness, the other is to- 
_ tally free from all such disquieting reflections. 


Hie sees not his sinfulness, and perceives not his 


220 


danger. He is little eoncerned either about 
the promises, or the terrors, of religion ; and 
fancies that he cannot but be safe in the road 
which is trod by so many thousands besides 


himself. rae 


Fair laughs the morn, and:soft the zephyr ‘blows, 
While proudly riding o’er the azure realm, - 

in gallant trim the gilded vessel goes, 

Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm ; 7 
Regar dless of the sw eeping whirlwind’s euAy, 


That, sol in grim repose, expects his evening prey 


This is generally the situation of the volup- 
tuary ; and is it more safe, because the danger 
is egneealed? Can his condition be thought pre- 
ferable to yours ? God has been pleased in his 
mercy to open the eyes of your understanding, 
and to show you the hideous gulph which yawns 
at your feet. Can this bea sign of his enmity 
towards you? Surely it is rather a mark of 
his loving kindness, a proof that he has not yet, 
forgotten to be gracious. You might still have 


Rat 


been wrapt in the sleep of spiritual insensibility 
like numbers, who must daily occur to your 
observation ; and would you be willing to ex- 
change your situation for: theirs? You will 
readily answer ; Vo. Why then, let me ask, 
should you doubt, but that God, who has begun 
a good work in you, will also in his own due 
time accomplish it? You cannot distrust either 
his power, or his love. He is able to save even 
to the uttermost; and his love will never per- 
mit him to reject any afflicted sinner, that 


eomes to him in his son’s name. 


2. You will perhaps say ; I find within my- 
self such little evidence of my being under the 
guidance of the Spirit, that I dare.not hope to 


meet with a favourable receplion from God. 


Consider the reason, why Christ. came into 
ihe world: was it to saye the just, or the un- 
just ; the angel, or the sinner? If we had nev- 

Ww 


122 


er deflected from our original purity, should 
we have had any need of a Saviour? Guilt, not 
innocence, requires expiation. I came not to, 
call the righteous, but. sinners to. repentance. 


The question is not, whether you have attained 


to immaculate perfection; but whether you 


are heartily sorry for your imperfection, and 


labour to make greater advances in holiness. 
Your very self-condemnation shows, that you. 
possess at least one Christian grace, that of 


humility ; and your grief is a proof, that you 


have the desire to become better. Reflect. 
then a moment; whence ean this humility and 
this desire lave proceeded? Are they the 


deeds of the flesh, or the fruits of the Spirit? ., 


3. But Lfear, that these are the only fruits. 


which I produce; and that they alone are 


scarcely suficient to prove, that E am ina state 


af grace. 


223 

~ Do you imagine then, that you are to attain 
to the summit of Christian practice, before 
you have well set out upon your journey 
_ There is a growth in holiness, as well as in the 
natural body: neither of them attain to their 
full stature suddenly: and we must be content 
‘in both eases to be children, before we are 
men. ‘The main point is, whether or no, you 
are pressing forward; if you are, however 
slow and even insensible your progress may 
be, “it is a proof that the spiritual life is not 
extinct. Your present situation may be un- 
eomfortable ; and it is wisely ordered, that it 
should be so. It effectually prevents you from 
resting satisfied with your present attainments, 
and constrains you te labour more abundantly. 

In the mean time, remember, for your com- 
fort, the gracious promise of him, who spake 
as never man spake. Blessed are the poor in 
spirit, for their’s is the kingdom of heaven. 
Blessed are they that mourn, jor they shall be 
comforted. Blessed are the meck, for they shall 


s 


224 


inherit the earth. Blessed are they who de 
hunger and thirst after righteousness, for 
they shall be filled.* 'Vhus is heaven promised 
asthe reward of your huniliation; comfort, 
as the happy result of your sorrow; and the 

fallest satisfaction, as the end of your eager | 
desive after a more perfect communion. with 


4, After all, it may very possibly be, that 
you have made a much greater progress in 
‘veligion, than you yourself are conscious of. © 
‘That very Christian, whom you look up to as 
so much your superior, may perhaps at the 
same time be mourning: his own deficiency in 
those graces, which to him seem to flourish 
anuch more abundantly in your heart... They, 
who are the most advanced in holiness, haye 
always the most. accurate perception of sins 


and consequently are much more sensible of 


Le EL 


* Matt. v. 5. 


225 


their failings, than others who have had less 
experience of themselves. ‘They see so much 
imperfection in their very best deeds, so much 
obstinacy even in their reformed wills, and so 
much corruption in their purest affections ; 
that, while they deeply perceive the necessity 
of being saved solely by the merits of Christ, 
they are apt to think no human heart so re- 
piete with perverseness as their own. Even 
the laborious Apostle of the Gentiles pro- 
nounces: himself less than the least of all the 
Apostles, unworthy of bearing the name of an 
Aposile; and every Christian, who possesses 
the least degree of self-knowledge, can most 
‘feelingly exculpate him from the charge of 
an affected humility. They, who complacently 
view their own good deeds, and while they 
‘bless themselves that they are not like other 
men, verily helieve that they preduce the 
fruits of the Spirit in the higuest perfection, 
ave much further removed from the kingdom 


of God, than the humble, self-condemning, 
WwW 2 


226 


penitent sinner, who dares noi so much as lift 
up his eyes unto heaven. Suchan oneneed in no 
wise despair.. ‘Though his heart may aceuse 
him, God is greater than his heart, and know- 
eth all things.* Let him redouble his’ dili- 
gence, and leave the rest: in the hands of his 
Redeemer. The merciful Saviour never yet 
east out a single person, who claimed his as- 


sistance and besought his intercession. 


_ §. I cannot better conclude this description 
of the fruits of the Spirit, than with the beau- 
tiful delineation which St. Paul has given us of 
Christian love ; and which, if I may use the 


expression, is a miniature portrait of eyery 
sincere believer. 


Charity suffereth long, and is kind ; charity 
encyeth not; charity caunteth not itself, is not 


* 1 John if. 20. 


227 


puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, 
seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, 
thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but 
rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, be- 


ieweth all things, hopeth all things, endureth 


all things.* 


*4Corinth. sili. 4. 


a aie as enna 
Sein’ ae ows i tag. sat neon Rate * 


. 4 ait wy 


CHAPTER VII. 


The constant influence of the Holy Spirit ne- 


cessary to convey us in safely to the end of 


our pilgrimage. 


Wuen a man has been once deeply con- 
vinced of the extreme sint ulness of his heart, 
and has discovered from repeated lapses his 
utter inability to walk in the way of God’s 
commandments by any inhereut strength of 
his own; he will naturally be anxious to learn, 
how he is to arrive in safety at the end of his 
pilgrimage. He knows too well by bitter ex- 
perience, that the moment he is left to him- 


self, he is sure to fall more or less from that 


230 


degree of Christian perfection, to which he 
had ‘previously attained. When the sup- 
porting arm of God is withdrawn, as a trial 
of his faith, and in order to convince him of 
his frailty, his strength withers, his spiritual 
faculties decay, and he becomes weak like any 
other man.* He finds that the occasional 
assistance of the Spirit is not sufiicient ; but 
that he requires it every day, every hour, 
every minute.t As the body is unable. to 
perform its functions, unless constantly sup- 
plied with the breath of life 3 80 does the soul 
constantly require the Vivifying i inspiration of 
the acl Ghost. 

In Seripture, spiritual ideas are conveyed. 
fo our minds by natural objects; nor is. it 


Se acer mennesasanansansaraeasieenanisapacedbeenrsseessianisinonatosintineeseouisnel, 
* Judges xvi. 17. 
tT “Opus est nobis guotidiana sanctificatione, ut qui 
quotidie delinquimus, delicta nostra sanctificatione assi- 


dua repurgemus.” Cyprian. de Orat. Domin. 


. > — 
a en ee 


- 
= a 


284 
possible to form a conception of them through 
any other medium, than that of some one of 
our senses. If the Holy Ghost bore no other 
denomination than that of the third person of the 
Trinity, we should be unable from such a title 
to form any definite notion of his attributes. 
But when he is styled Ruach and Pneuma, 
words which primarily signify the air in motion, 
we are led to conclude, that there must be 
some analogy between his influence upon the 
soul and that of the atmosphere upon the body. 
‘This persuasion is strengthened by finding, 
that the same terms are invariably used to. 
describe the action both of the divine and the 
material spirit. ‘The play of the lungs, by 
which the atmosphere is received into our 
animal frames, is termed inspiration; the 
very name, by which the conveyance of super- 
natural powers to the mind, is uniformly de- 
signated. But we are not to confine the term 
inspiration merely to the gift of prophecy: 
sur church teaches us to give ita much more 


"232 


extensive meaning, and to apply it to that 
ordinary assistance of the Spirit, which every 
believer: is intitled to expect. She directs us 
to pray, « that the thoughts of our hearts 
may be cleansed. by. his inspiration,”’*. and 
‘that by his holy inspiration we may think 
the things that be good ;”} thus clearly show- 
ing, that our reformers, though they rejected 
all vain and fanatical pretensions to the gift 
of prophecy or the authority of revelation, yet 
decidedly maintained the necessity of the con- 
stant ordinary inspiration of the Spirit. . What 
ihat inspiration is, hath already been abundant- 
ly shown in considering those operations of the 
Holy Ghost, which take place in the soul of 
every believer ; I mean the enlightening of the 
understanding, the rectifying of the will, the 


purification of the affections, and the produc- 


* Collect in Commun. Service. 


. } Collect to: the 5th Sund. after Easter, 


283 


tion of these. graces which the Apostle terms 
Fruits of the Spirit.* 


In consequence of the air being thus the ap- 


pointed emblem of the third. person of the 


* & We find in the Scriptures both of the Old and New 
Testament, that the persons ‘of the eternal Three, and 
their economical offices and operations in the spiritual, 
are represented by the three conditions of the celestial 
fluid, and their operations in the material world. Thus 
the peculiar emblem of the Word, or second Person, is 
the Shemesh or Light; and he is, and does, that to the 
souls or spirits of men, which the material or natural light 
is and does, to their bodies. The third Person has no other 

| ‘ distinctive name in Scripture, but Ruach in Hebrew and 
Pneuma in Greek, both which words in their primary 
sense denote the material spirit, or air in motion; to which 
appellation the epithet Kadesh, Hagion, Holy, or one of 
the names of God, is usually added; and the actions of 


x 


234 


"Trinity, our Lord eompares the operations of 
the one to the operations of the other,* and 
communicates the gift of the Holy Ghost to 
his disciples by breathing upon them.+ That 
wonderful effusion of the Spirit on the day of 
Pentecost was attended with a sound from 
heaven as of a mighty rushing wind, express- 
ive of those miraculous powers, which were 
the instrument of producing so great a reyolu- 
tion in the superstitions of Paganism ; and, in 
the mystie epithalamium of Solomon, the frue- 


4ifieation of the church is described by the soft 
a ne LETS ATE 


the Holy Spirit in the spiritual system are described by 


those of the air in the natural.” Parkhurst’s Hebrew 


Lexicon Yox 55D. 


* John 118. . 


in John xx. 22: - 


235 
breezes of the south wind blowing among the 
aromatic plants of an eastern garden.* 


‘ re 
F 


If we wish then to understand the manner in 
which the Spirit operates upon the soul, we 
must inquire in what manner the air operates 
upon the body. Now we find, that the air sur- 
rounds the body on all sides, is perpetually 
inhaled by it, and is so necessary to its health, 
that death is the certain consequence of its be- 
ine withdrawn. In a similar manner, so long 
as the Holy Ghost animates the soul of the 
Christian, it enjoys the highest degree of spir- 
ritual health; if the vivifying principle be in 


part withdrawn, the soul languishes 3 and if it 


* Cantic. iv. 16. Our translators, in the title which they 
have prefixed to the fourth chapter of this divine song, 
give it as their opinion, that in the sixteenth verse “ the 


Church prayeth to be made fit for the presence of Christ” 


236 
be once: entinely removed, what is figuratively 
termed the second death immediately’ takes’ 
place.* We are no more able to” advance in 
our heavenly pilgrimage without ‘the constant 
inspiration of the Holy Ghost, than we should” 
be to accomplish some long journey upon earth 
without the perpetual inspiration Of the atmos-— 
phere. To be deprived of either is equally 
fatal; the one to the cae the other to- 


the natural economy.t © 0 9) 


* Revel. xx. 14, 
, a 

T ‘“‘ The branch can bear no fruit, nor preserve nor ripen ‘ 

that which it hath, but by its unity with the root: light 

continues not in the house, but by its dependence on the- 
sun; shut out that, all the light is presently gone. Take 

water away from the fire, and its nature will be. presently ) 
stronger than the heat it borrowed, and suddenly reduce 
it to its wonted coldness. So we can do nothing but by 

the constant supplies of the Spirit of Christ. He, that 


237 


On this account it is a most Important mat- 
ter to inquire, what scriptural reasons we have 
to expect the unceasing assistance of the Holy 
Spirit; for melancholy indeed would be our 
situation, had we the road to everlasting life 
merely pointed out to us, and were we thence- 
forward left to pursue it by the unaided exer- 
tion of our own strength. The hearts: of the 
stoutest would be appalled at the sight of the 
dangers and difficulties. which everywhere 


begins, must finish every good work inus. He, that is 
the author, must be the finisher of our faith too. Without 
him, we cannot will nor do any good. Without him, 
when we have done both, we cannot continue, but shall 
faint in the way. His Spirit must lead us, His arm must 
heal and strengthen us. As we have recciyed him, so 
we must walk in him: without him we cannot walk. 
God is the God of all grace: to him it belongeth not 
only to call, but to perfect; not only to perfect, but to 
strengthen, stablish, settle us.” Bp. Reynold’s Sinful- 
ness of Sin, p. 130. ' 


; 


x2 


present themselves, unless they were convinced 
that God himself was on their side; and the 
spirits even of the most yigorous would: fail 
them, if it were a matter of doubt whether the 
Redeemer might not possibly desert them ia 
the last stage of their pilgrimage. Arguing 
only from the bare light of reason, it surely ig 
unworthy of the goodness of God to suppose, 
that he would forsake his children in their 
greatest need, and leave them expesed in them 


declining years, an unresisting ees to all the 


nil es Pe bs 
AIS FE 


malice of Satan.* 


* It was the fear ef this that caused David to exclaim : 
Cast me not away in the time of age; forsake me not when 
my strength fuileth me—Forsake me not, O God, in mine old 
age, when Iam grey-headed ; until I have showed thy strength 

-unto this generation, and thy power to all them that are yet 
for to come. Psalm Ixxi. 8. 16. ; 


- The gracious Lord, however, in his merey, 
has not left us to our own vague conjectures 
and unsatisfactory probabilities. On the con- 
trary, he has armed the Christian with an 
abundance of precious promises ; and has for- 
tified his mind, against the heur of danger, 
with the most soothing assurances of his friend- 
ship and protection. He knoweth what is in 
man; and has therefore provided him with 
armour of proof, to enable him to stand fast 
in the evil day of peril. and adversity. He has 
repeatedly declared, that he will never forsake 
his servants, unless they resolutely and with a 
high hand forsake him; but that he will pre- 
serve his heritage from all the assaults of hell, 
and safely conduct them into the realms of 


everlasting happiness. 


This God is our God for ever and ever; he 


will be our guide even unto death.* Many are 


_ * Psalm xlviii. £4. 


240° 
the afflictions of the righteous ; but the Lord 
delivereth him out of them all.* Cast thy bur~ 
den upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee; 
he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.} 
Fear not, for I am with thee; be not dis- 
mayed, for Lam thy God; I will strengthen. 
thee, yea TE will help thee, yea I will uphold thee 


with the right hand of my righteousness.t 


Similar to these are the gracious. assurances. 
eontained in the New Testament, which are. 
admirably calculated to strengthen the hearts 
ef the feeble and the dejected. 


Iknow in whom I have believed, says. the 
Apostle, and am persuaded that he is able to 


* Psalm xxxiv. 19. 
+ Psalm Iv. 22. 


j Isgiah xhi. 10. 


244 


keep that which I have committed to him until 
that day. *Father, says our blessed Saviour, F 
will that they also, whom thou has given me, 
be with me where Tam ; that they may behold 
my glory which thow hast given me; for thou 
. lovedst me before the alin o the 
world.+ 


In order to show the faithful how little they 
have to fear from the assaults of their enemies, 
and to convince them that God is on their side, — 
Christ builds the safety Of his Church upon 
Omnipotence itself: when that fails, the ulti- © 
mate felicity of believers will be insecure; but 
till then, the gates of hell can never prevail 
against them. My sheep hear my voice, and I 
know them, and they follow me: and I give 


* 2 Tim 119) 


* + John xvii. 24.) 


242 
unio them eternal life; and they shail never 
perish, neither shall any one * pluck them out 
of my hand. My Father, which guce them 
me, is greater than all 5 and no one is able to 


pluck them out of my Father's hand.t 


The Alnighty himself, moreover, mereci- 
fully foreseeing what a hindrance it would be 
to his children in their spiritual progress if 


they had not good reason to rely upon. his 


* The strength of the original Greek is much impaired 
in our translation, by inserting the word man; instead of 
the word one, after the pronoun any; for the passage 
when thus rendered, hath the appearance of limiting the 
declaration of Christ to a promise of proteetion only 
against Auman efforts. Tis and ovdeic evidently re- 
date, not merely to terrestrial, but also to infernal, ené- 


mies. 


+ John x. 27. 


243 


faithfulness, has confirmed the immutability 
of his counsel by an oath ;* and has been 
pleased to reveal himself to man by the two 
names of Jehovah and Elohim, the ene descrip- 
tive of his self-existence, and the other allu- 
sive to that covenant which the eternal Three 
have sworn to ratify. This is the stedfast 
anchor of the soul; the firm assurance of the 
certainty of all God’s promises; the termina- 
tion of strife ; and the earnest of immortality.+ 


God is not aman that he should lie; neither 


a 


-* Heb. vi. 17. 


{ ‘! Si tibi vir gravis et laudabilis aliquid polliceretur, 
haberes utique pollicenti fidem, nec te falli aut decipi ab 
eo crederes, quem stare in sermonibus atque actibus suis 
scires: nunc Deus tecum loquitur ; et tu mente incredula 
perfidus fluctuas? Deus de hoe mundo recendenti tibi 


immortalitatem atque xternitatem pollicetur; et tu du- 


DA 


the Son of Man that he should repent: hath 
he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spo- 
ken, and shall he not make it good 2% 

But, notwithstanding God hath graciously 
promised that he will never forsake those that 
love him ; yet, since man hath now recoyered 
his lest freedom of will by the preaching of 
the gospel, he may abuse it, like Adam, to his 


own destruction. As aman in the full vigour 


of health may be guilty of self-murder; so 


may a Christian commit what may be termed 


i 


bitas? Hoc est Deum omnino non nosse: hoc est Chris- 


tum credentium Dominum et magistrum peccato incre- 


dulitatis offendere: hoc est in ecclesia constitutum - 


fdem in domo fidei non habere.” Cyprian. de Mortal. 


7 


* Numb, xxiii. 19. 


me 


“245 
spiritual suicide. In this case, it is not God 
that forsaketh him, but he that forsaketh God. 
Hence the Apostle wholesomely advises, Let 
him, that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest 
he fall. Let him beware of a carnal security 
and a reliance upon sensible comforts, lest he 


find too late by fatal experience, that the 


“promises of Scripture were not made to the 


unholy and the impenitent. St. Paul has in- 
timated, that even he himself, after convert- 


ing the whole Gentile world, might neverthe- 


“ess be a cast-away, if he neglected to use the 


proper means to make his calling and election 
sure :* how greatly ought we then to beware, 


te I ER I ES ESSE 


* ITkeep under my body, and bring it into subjection ; lest 
that by any means (Gr. Mu WSs) when Ihave preached to 
others, J myself should-be a-cast-away. 1 Corinth. ix. 27, 
{ apprehend, that the difference between ayxws and sve 
my although they are both translated Jest, is this ; that 
the former implies a possibility ef danger, whereas the 


¥ 


246. 


lest we gradually fall away from our first love 
and so make shipwreck of our salvation. 
‘oo frequently do we behold persons, who 
originally set out well on their religious 
course, at length rejecting the counsel of God 
against themselves, and dying in so reprobate a 
state that we cannot reasonably suppose them 
io be heirs of the promise. Like their types 
ihe rebellious Israelites, who perished in the 
wilderness after they had been delivered from 
the bondage of Kgypt, these awful characters 
perish through unbelief ere they reach the 
confines of the heavenly Canaan: for it is im- 
possible for those, who were once enlightened, 
and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were 
made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have 
tasted the good word of God and the powers 


. jatter relates only to the using of means to prevent someé- 


thing. 


aAy 


of tie world te come, if they shall fall away, 
lorenew them again unto repentance, secing 
they crucify to themselves the Son of God 
afresh, and put him to an open shame.* Such 
persons seem to be pointed out by our Lord 
im his parable of the sower. They are the 
seed, which falls upon stony ground and soon 
springs up in full luxuriancy; but, having no 
depth of soil, presently withers beneath the 
scorching rays of the Sun. . These melancholy 
examples, while they strike the Christian with 
a wholesome terror, ought not to produce in 
him any distrust.of the eertainty of God’s 
covenant... The Holy Spirit never leaves a 
man till after he has long striven with him in 
vain ; nor does God cver give any person up 
to destruction, till he has first given up him- 
self. 


* Heb. vi. 4. 


248 

The righteous may indeed fall seven times 
‘im a day, and repeatedly grieve the Holy Ghost 
by his backwardness. and perverseness.. He 
knows and laments his own infirmities, and his 
sing are ever before him: nevertheless, he 
resolutely strives against them, firmly relying 
upon the certainty of Ged’s oath. This is his 
strong consolation in the midst of all his trials $ 
if God be for us, who shall be against us? 
Christ hath died for us, yea rather hath risen 
again from the dead, and perpetually maketh 
intercession for us. ‘The Holy Spirit has en- 
gaged to abide with us for ever ;* and the 
Father has coyenanted to accept all those who 
come unto him in his Son’s name. Here then 
is the sure refuge of the Christian. He relies 
upon the faithfulness of God, and diligently 
applies himself to the acquisition of those 


graces, which are required as necessary quali- 


* John xiv. 14 


249 


fications for the kingdom of heaven. ‘Though 
his mind may at times be clouded with doubts 
and harassed with fears, the word of promise 
is his sure anchor. He strives to live by faith ; 
the consciousness of undeserved mercy stimu- 
Jates him to a course of cheerful obedience ; 
and he labours to render unto God the best 
service, the service of the heart. He knows, 
that the Holy Spirit is not given to supersede 
the necessity of any endeavours on his part, 
but to enable him to labour more abundantly in 
the cause of religion ; not to promote indolence, 
but to excite diligence. Hence, while he is 
confident of this very thing, that he, which hath 
begun a good work in him, will perform it until 
the day of Jesus Christ ;* he still continues to 
work out his own salvation with fear and 


trembling 


* Philip. i. 6. 


} Philip. ii. 12, 
¥2 


& 


250° 


. Such is the strong ground of consolation 
which the Christian possesses; a consolation 
not founded upon the deceitfulness of feeling, 7 
but upon a lively faith in the express, promises 
of God. Frequently is he necessitated to be- 
lieve even against hope; but, thouglt his beart 
within him may be desolate, the Holy Spirit 
still supports him in the midst of his infirmi= 
ties, and ° enables him to exelaim with the 
Psalmist, Though I walk through the calley of 
the shadow of death, Iwill fear no evil; for 
thou art with me, thy rod, and thy staff, they 
comfort me.* hus daily strengthened and 
sustained, he forgets those things which are 
behind, and presses forward to those which are 
yet before him: thus daily increasing in piety 
_ and abounding in every good word and work, 


he by degrees grows up unto a perfect man, 


* Balm xivini. 14. 


204 


unto the measure of the stature of the fulness 
of Christ.* Old things are passed away, and 
all things are become new. His understand- 
ing, his will, and his affections, are no longer 
prostituted to the service of Satan, but are de- 
yoted to the cause of God. Being « justified 
freely, he is made a son of God by adoption; 
made like the image of his only begotten Son 
Jesus Christ. He walks religiously in good 
works; and at length, by God’s merey, at- 


tains to everlasting felicity.” 7. 


“The result, then, of the whole’ inquiry is 
this :—that man by nature is born in sin, a child 
af wrath, and utterly unable either to think or 
to do any good by virtue of his own unassisted 


faculties :—that, although Christ laid down his 
arr ep I a 


¥ Eph. iv. 13. 


fArt. Svib 


252 
jife for him, he cannot avail himself of the ben- 
efits which result from that mysterious sacri- 
fice, unless a change be effected in his under- 
standing, his will, and his affections ; so that he 
may perceive his need ofa Saviour, desire above 
all things to serve him, and unfeignedly love the 
way of his commandments :—that, being dead 
in trespasses and sins, he is no more able to in- 
fuse life into his soul, than a corpse is to raise 
itself up from the grave :—that the blessed 
Spirit of God is the appointed agent to work this 
great change, to sanctify and comfort the heart 
of the believer, and to conduct him in safety to 
the realms of everlasting happiness :—that he 
is the bestower of every good and every perfect 
sift, the breath of our spiritual life, and the 
support of our drooping courage :—that through 
him we commence our journey to heaven ; and 
that through him alone we are enabled to per- 
severe even to the end :—that when he hides his 
face, we are troubled ; and, should he totalty 
withdraw himself, spiritual death would be the 


ee a 


immediate consequence :—but that we fave 4. 
promise, that he will abide with us for ever * 
‘and on the strength of that promise, we go on 

our way, if not always rejoicing, yet always 

with such a degree of confidence as God in his 

wisdom judges to be sufficient for us.—To him 

we have commitied our souls through the 

merits of Christ Jesus; and we wait, with a 
humble, a trembling, reliance upon his word, 

for that salyation, which he freely offers to all 
who are willing to accept it. The grass with- 
ereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our 

God shall stand fast for ever.t The world 

may frown upon us, and the powers of darkness 


may league together against us; but the rock, 


* John xiv. 14, 


« FIsajah xi. &. ‘, 


254 


upon which we are founded, is the sure rabk, 


the rock of i ages.* 


* How animated is the language of Cyprian, when he 
looks forward with the eye of faith to the happiness laid 
up for him in the Kingdom ofheaven. Considerandum 
est, fratres dilectissimi, et eatidens cogitandum, renun- 
classe nos mundo, et tang: dam hospites et peregr inos 
isthic interim degere. Amplectamur diem, qui assignat 
singulos domicilio suo; quinos isthine ereptos, et laqueis 
secularibus exsolutos paradiso restituit, et regno ceelesti. 
Quis non peregre constitutus properaret in patriam re- 
gredi? Quis non ad suos navigare festinans, ventum pros- 
perum cupidius optaret, ut velociter caros liceret am- 
‘plecti? Patriam nostram Paradisum computemus, pa- 
rentes patriarchas habere jam cepimus; quid non prope- 
ramus et currimus, ut patriam nostram videre, ut parentes 
salutare’ possimus? Magnus illic nos carorum nume- 
rus. expectat, parentum, fratrum, filiorum frequens nos et 
copiosa turba desiderat, jam de sua immortalitate secura, 
et adhuc de nostra salute solicita. Ad horum conspec- 
tum et complexum venire, quanta et illis et nobis in com- 
mune letitia est? Qualis illic celestium regnorum yo- 


luptas sine timore moriendi, et cum zternitate vivendi ? 


255 

Behold, all they that were incensed against 
thee shall be ashamed and confounded : they 
shall be as nothing : and they that strive with 
thee shall perish. Thow shalt seek them, and 
shalt not jind them, even them that contended 
with thee: they that war against thee shall be 
as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I, 
the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, 
saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee. 


Quam summa et perpetua felicitas? Illic Apostolorum 
gloriosus chorus: illic prophetarum exultantium nume- 
rus: illic martyrum innumerabilis populus ob certaminis 
et passionis victoriam coronatus: triumphantes illic vir- 
gines, que concupiscentiam carnis et corporis, continen- 
tie robore subegerunt: remunerati misericordes, qui 
alimentis et largitionibus pauperum justitiz, opera fece- 
runt: qui Dominica precepta servantes ad ceelestes thes- 
auros terrena patrimonia transtulerunt. Ad hos, fratres 
dilectissimi, avida cupiditate properemus; ut cum his 
cito esse, ut cito ad Christum venire contingat, optemus.” 
* 
De Mortal. 


256 


Hear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Is- 
rael: Iwill help thee, saith the Lord, and thy 
redeemer, the Holy One of Israel—Even the 
youths shall faint and be weary, and the young 
men shall utterly fall: but they, that wait upon 
the Lord, shall renew their strength ; they shalt 


mount up with wings ds eagles ; they shall run _ 
and not be weary; they shall walk and not 
faint.* 


* Isaiah xl. 30. and xli. 11, 


THE END. 


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